By Brian Skeele, on March 12th, 2011
I happen to talk to one of my partners about my latest blog on the Killer Modeling Tool, and he directed me to “Write this down. EVONY”. So I did, and later last night I went to the web site, remembering the advice he’d given me, “Don’t let the way they built the game distract you from the platform. We can get it built however you want it”
Well, here’s my questions…
Can I go to Google Earth and put my own neighborhood into the playing field?
Can I add stories to existing buildings?
Can I reshape blocks, creating a new cross street in a long block?
Could a stand alone be turned into a row house of three homes, for instance?
Wow, I’m running out of hurdles. Other configurations seem doable.
We can plug in numbers for the number of residents it takes to support a corner grocer, for instance.
Stephen Mouzon was saying the other day, that the usual numbers quoted are 1000-1500 residents, but there is a neighborhood of 350 that is really committed to shopping at the local store, hang out, and it is thriving apparently. I think it is Waters, near Montgomery Alabama.
1/4 mile radius is the typically quoted “how far Americans will walk to a service, with the exception of 1/2 mile to a transit stop. I bet those numbers change when gas goes to $4.50/gallon!
Stephen said something else I found awesome. Five years ago he moved to Miami, into the second most walkable neighborhood in America (South Miami Beach), and has lost 60 pounds. He showed a map of all his haunts, the work out place, the bookstore, etc. The map of his world… that’s what I want this Killer Modeling Tool to be able to do! Download your neighborhood, and see what it takes to make a sustainable lifestyle REAL!
For more of Stephen’s years of experience, go to OriginalGreen…