The quotation marks around “small towns” on the cover may suggest that we are using the term loosely. We are. As you’ll see, smallness can be relative: compared to the Bay Area and Los Angeles metropolises, Santa Cruz is small. We include, as well, urban neighborhoods—such as San Francisco’s Glen Park—that function much like small towns. And, yielding to popular demand, we are reprinting an essay on planning in the not-small-at-all city of Cape Town, South Africa, which was a big hit at last year’s Monterey Design Conference.
In his essay on Los Banos, arcCA editorial board member Paul Halajian, AIA, notes that, “as designers of the built environment, we tend to follow trends established in the highly populated metropolitan areas, forgetting that California is largely rural.” Not to mention largely large. Seeking to diversify our perspectives on the state, the editorial board has worked hard to draw new members from outside the SF-LA shuttle hop. Paul, who hails from Fresno, was the first such newcomer. He has been joined this year by Kris Miller-Fisher, AIA, of Santa Barbara, and Eric Naslund, FAIA, of San Diego. We welcome them— and San Francisco sage, Peter Dodge, FAIA, too. (I make a particular point of mentioning these folks, as we rather bungled the editorial board roster— indeed, the entire masthead—in 04.1, “press check.” Please see this issue’s masthead for correct listings of current editorial board members and AIACC officers.)
This being an election year, in the interest of full disclosure (a practice for which we could use more examples), I should mention that I was involved in two projects discussed in this issue: the Glen Park Marketplace, whose saga is told by developer David Prowler; and one of the Santa Cruz ADUs described by Bruce Race, FAIA. Both are projects of Peterson Architects, the San Francisco firm that for four years has generously donated office space and support for arcCA. Alongside my editorial work, I’ve been employed both by Peterson Architects and by Public Architecture, the non-profit, public interest firm that it is incubating. Not trusting myself to judge the aptness of these projects for the “small towns” issue, I asked members of the editorial board to review them, and they assure me the subjects are of interest. (Or, to put it again in terms of the election year: the buck stops just shy of my desk.)
A further resource for those interested in small towns is the Carl Small Town Center in the College of Architecture at Mississippi State University. Take a peek.
Originally published 2nd quarter 2004 in arcCA 04.2, “Small Towns.”
