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December 6, 2007 – “What excites me about this process,” said San Antonio real estate broker Al Rohde after a Wednesday meeting with designers, “is that I see you creating the City of Tomorrow. And I’m very gratified to see that happening.”

Such meetings, where charrette leader Andres Duany engages neighbors, business people, and elected and appointed officials, continue today.

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The 87-year-old Rohde, on hand for the Wednesday morning session focusing on public works, said he’s the senior broker in the San Antonio Metro Area. He’s seen the Northeast section of town in all cycles of growth, decline, and now growth again. “This means a new life that’s more like the old life in the old neighborhoods we loved,” said Rohde, “when everybody had a front porch and you could walk to many of the places you needed to go.”

Other attendees at morning and afternoon sessions offered comments and questions. Most seemed intrigued by ideas Duany proposed. “I am testing these ideas on you, and I’m inviting you to correct and amend what I say,” said Duany. (For Duany’s take on emerging sustainability themes, click here.)

Two Tribes

One tribe, represented by the young techies of Rackspace, will likely prefer nightlife, rental apartments, brew pubs, and vibrant entertainment. The other, represented by empty nesters and senior medical personnel, are likely to want white-table-cloth gourmet restaurants with fine wine, single-family homes, and quieter entertainment venues. But both are likely to “share the square,” the communal public spaces of a mixed-use environment – provided the spaces are designed appealingly.

Tom Moriarty, vice president of the market analysis company, Economics Research Associates (ERA), was on hand for the first three days of the charrette to present his research to the team. He said that while these two consumer groups might not be interested in the same products at the same time, they constitute a multiplier effect for the local economy.

“When people buy into the kinds of communities Andres designs,” said Moriarty, “whether they understand why they like them or not, they immediately respond to the mix of housing types integrated into retail and office space. The more market segments we can layer into the same geography the better it is for everybody.”

Duany said he’s inspired by the challenge of delivering the kinds of choices that will appeal to these distinct market segments, yet allow them to share many of the same spaces -- perhaps simultaneously, perhaps at different times of the day.