Q: There’s been lots of talk about what this charrette is tackling. Some people think it’s all about the closed Windsor Park Mall. Others think it’s about all of Northeast San Antonio. What’s the deal?

A: The charrette is only targeting the 300-acre parcel south of the Mall (see map). Not the Mall itself. As everybody knows, Rackspace Managed Hosting has leased the Mall property and will determine how it will be built out. But the charrette is still likely to have a broader impact in the region. With everybody’s input, it can go a long way towards identifying key principles to guide growth beyond the boundaries of the targeted parcel.

Q: Who's paying for this weeklong planning charrette? Is it the development company, the City of Windcrest, or who?

A: This is a very public process paid for by private money. Urban Real Estate Group has hired Andres Duany and his DPZ team to direct the charrette and create plans for the 300-acre parcel the company owns. No taxpayer money is involved. Both the City of Windcrest and San Antonio, however, are cooperating in the charrette because plans for this parcel can set a standard for redevelopment approaches in the wider Northeast San Antonio region.

Q: What’s the big deal about this “charrette” method of planning?

A: A charrette is a particular kind of workshop that allows for fast-tracked, inclusive decision-making. Instead of meetings that go on for months – or even years – a charrette gathers just about everybody who can advance or block an idea in one place during one time span. Experts of all kinds, from architects to engineers to the local fire marshal, are on hand to resolve sticking points immediately. And citizens are invited to participate at every stage.

We’ve all been involved in meetings that were energy-draining. Charrettes are the opposite. They raise everyone’s energy level and, for that reason, are more likely to result in popular plans that are easier to implement. For more about charrettes, click here.

Q: I hear there’s a whole team of national consultants coming in for the charrette. Who are these guys, and why do we need people from out of town telling us how Windcrest should look?

A: You can find out more about our design team here. Many of them are from out of town, from all over the country, in fact. But no one is going to be telling local residents how they should be living. The consultants are here to use the charrette process to turn the best ideas of local citizens, officials, and developers into actionable plans.

There are a couple reasons why governments and private developers bring in outsiders. First of all, when we’re talking about large-scale planning, the job can be done more efficiently by folks who do it all the time. Projects of this size and potential complexity happen only once every few years in a given community; so it doesn’t make sense for local design experts, no matter how brilliant they are, to specialize in work they’ll only do locally a couple times a decade. Secondly, most big projects can benefit from fresh eyes. Outsiders can often pick up on details and trends so familiar to locals that no one notices them or connects them with significant patterns.

Q: Lots of folks in the Windcrest area have been here a long time and are looking forward to aging gracefully in their homes and neighborhoods. Will all this planning create pressure for them to move or to radically change their lives?

A: Actually, the opposite is more likely. The kind of planning the City of Windcrest and private developers are talking about favors an approach known as Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND). Its principles are based on forms that were dominant in the era before the automobile took over, back when neighbors could walk to a corner grocery or barber shop and socialize with one another in appealing public places. That kind of neighborhood is great for everybody, especially the very young and the old, who are the ones most dependent on getting around by means other than driving cars. So a community revitalized by TND approaches is likely to be an ideal place for growing old on your own terms.