Holiday Neighborhood
In 2004, the vision of the Holiday neighborhood began to materialize as the construction of the development began after years of progressive analysis. After the Holiday Twin Screen Drive-In closed in 1989, the site transitioned into a greenfield site. However, since the development began, the site has become a mixed-use residential neighborhood that encourages energy-efficient sustainability and affordable housing for its residents. These two initiatives have allowed the community to prosper and welcome a multitude of financial backgrounds and other demographics into the neighborhood.
A diverse array of land uses has created a walkable and bike-friendly area that encourages the sustainability initiative as well as evoking feelings of inviting others into the neighborhood. Traffic is light in the area and does not inhibit pedestrian foot travel within the Holiday Neighborhood.
The holiday neighborhood lies in the middle of North Boulder, bordered by highway 36 and Broadway. This area contains a combination of mixed-use, commercial, and residential zones in a residential community that also has a considerable amount of affordable housing. Our research will focus on the holiday neighborhood due to the reason that it is a unique community that is motivated by sustainability and affordability. These two goals bring this community together and make it a great location to observe feminist urbanism.
Project
In this assignment, we are embarking on an endeavor to understand and apply the concepts of feminist urbanism to a local neighborhood in order to uncover gender inequality through urban design. The goals of our investigation will be to uncover the potential outlets that inhibit or restrict gender equity in the neighborhood. Whether it be through the built context of the site or more complex impacts such as social spheres of influences. We have chosen to explore the presence of Feminist Urbanism in the Holiday Neighborhood. We chose this because we felt as though this was an ideal location for us to explore the presence of gender equity and equality because of the neighborhood’s recent development, the diverse amenities available, and the affordable housing initiative in the area. Different residential uses such as apartments and houses paired with a school and coffee shops in the neighborhood make this area an ideal environment to study the social interactions within a modern planned development and explore the ways that Feminist urbanism exists.
Team Members
Alex Scinta
Feminist urbanism is a concept that I have never thought about until now. I find this idea to be fascinating and I am looking forward to seeing how this exists in a community close to where I live. I have not experienced this concept first hand before but am excited to research the Holiday neighborhood and observe feminist urbanism first hand.
Federica Merola
The idea of feminist urbanism is a challenge that I will tackle through research and creativity alike. I believe I can add significant value to the team because of my background and as the only woman in the team, I have a feminist approach through my thinking and perspective of observing life.
Stan Connors
I believe that I can bring a different mindset when approaching this subject. I am very uninformed about the ways that feminist urbanism can harm others. I have not directly experienced the impacts of these issues but I have an open and passionate mind that allows me to always possess a desire to grow and learn more.
We have chosen to explore the presence of Feminist Urbanism in the Holiday Neighborhood. We felt as though this was an ideal location for us to explore the presence of Feminist Urbanism because of the neighborhood’s recent development and the diverse amenities in the neighborhood. Different residential uses such as apartments and houses paired with a school and coffee shops in the neighborhood make this area an ideal environment to study the social interactions within a modern planned development and explore the ways that Feminist urbanism exists.
Goals
The purpose of this study is to obtain information regarding urban design and the different ways it affects different genders. The goals of our investigation will be to uncover the potential outlets that inhibit or restrict feminism in the neighborhood. Whether it be through the built context of the site or more complex impacts such as social spheres of influences. The main objective of this study is to observe the existence of the idea of Feminist Ubranism in the Holiday.
Feminist Urbanism
Feminist Urbanism is the concept, theory, and social movement that regards the built environment and urban design negatively affecting the lives of women. This concept refers to the idea that the built environment is catered to men and how socially and politically there is a history of a patriarchial society.
Precedents
Chile has recognized the continual growth of urban areas and has been constantly trying to find ways to make sure that while urbanism increases, inequality does not also increase. In the Observatory Against Street Harassment, the main concerns were centered around how the needs of women can be amplified and brought into design and implementation of public spaces. A survey of street harassment in Santiago, the country’s capital city revealed that 9 out of 10 women have experienced street harassment. It has also been proven that because of this street harassment that women experience, it also alters the way in which they use the city they live in.
While trying to determine an effective course of action to address this cause, The Observatory Against Street Harassment particularly focused on community mobilization that can lead to meaningful impacts at a ground-up level that have the ability to change at the political and social scale. This is a prime example of the change that citizens can have on the city that they live in. In this case, the needs of women were met by means of addressing these obstacles head first in order to implement change in a democratic process.
Interviews
“My husband and I recently moved to Boulder in September from Alabama. We have liked boulder very much and we are happy to live here, but in our neighborhood (1) , they do not have access to wheelchairs, and I believe it is an asset that should be implemented on this site because I believe it is important to address the needs of everyone (2). My husband had an accident a few years ago while biking, and it was pretty rough (3). What if he ended up in a wheelchair because of that? (4) The holiday neighborhood would not be a place that we could move into because it would not benefit him nor address his needs. I think it is important for designers and city planners to include people with disabilities in their designs.” (5)
Background
Concern
Personal Experience
Safety
Desire
Interviews
"Also, I think there is a lack of street lights in the neighborhood and it makes us feel unsafe sometimes (1) , and even because when I think of having my son living in this neighborhood, and he is grown up, I would not want him to be outside at night if it continues to be this way, because I do not think it’s safe for him being around at night with no lights, and therefore no people." (2)
1. Security
2. Vision
“But you were saying that specifically you are researching neighborhoods that suffer from feminist urbanism, and my husband and I are in fact really interested in this topic because we believe in equality as a design. (1) That is why we are really concerned about letting the city know why they should care in implementing designs that address people with disabilities for example” (2)
Equality
City Planning
Safety and Equality
We argue safety and equality in the Holiday Neighborhood as reasons for the neighborhood to research more deeply in order to bring connectivity within them. While interviewing, we found It is important to understand the needs of the community in order to approach their different issues such as insecurity due to lack of street lights and people, but also implementing designs that are necessary for the different users that habitat this neighborhood.
After researching this neighborhood, interviewing a couple who lives here, and observing different spaces within and near this neighborhood, there are a few things that could be changed regarding the design of these spaces and the local law enforcement. After interviewing a couple that lives in the holiday neighborhood, we learned that the local law enforcement takes off-leash dogs very seriously, although this isn’t necessarily related to gender equality in design, one recommendation we had is to change laws regarding off-leash dogs.
One recommendation we had regarding feminist urbanism was that in our interview, the woman mentioned how she was pregnant and that she has to walk up 2 flights of stairs every day, obviously when designing this complex this idea of it being difficult for a pregnant woman to climb the stairs any time she needs to go anywhere, was not thought about. We recommend that in designing future developments in this neighborhood and nearby, that pregnant women are taken into account more as it is harder for them to constantly be traveling up and down stairs constantly.
Fieldnotes
Reflection
A thin layer of sweat lines my back as I park my bike at a bike stand at Holiday Neighborhood Park. The unseasonably warm weather motivated me to make the five mile journey to the site by bike and my spirits were high and excitement bubbled inside of me as I began roaming the neighborhood park in North Boulder.
My journey in the neighborhood began with a multitude of wrong turns and looming circular navigation patterns as I aimlessly biked around the recently developed community. I had no worries of finding my destination as intrigue and curiosity overwhelmed me as I turned every corner while ambitiously pedaling away on my bicycle. The streets were rather busy for a February after in Boulder, it was evident that everyone was destined to take advantage of this unusually welcoming weather before the looming forecasted snow storm made its way for the following day.
My focus was turned back and forth between mothers beckoning their skateboarding sons to not ride on the street and jovial friends laughing and enjoying their time together. Once I arrived at the park I instinctively circumnavigated the park on foot in order to fully embrace the spirit of the neighborhood. As I passed fellow pedestrians I was constantly met with a pleasant “hello” or “good afternoon” in which I cordially replied despite being thrown off by the unwarranted friendliness.
I find myself flipping through the pages of a book that I will never read at the communal library boxes that are located at the southwestern edge of the park. An elderly woman was there as well and she seemed much more determined to find a book to entertain her for the evening. As I returned to the northern end of the park, I encounter a couple and their dog laying down and soaking up the last rays of the sun. It appears that they have lost track of their time spent and have no intentions of leaving the park any time soon.
Children are competitively climbing on the rock structure at the playground and making an unjustified amount of noise regarding their activity. Another couple is throwing a tennis ball with their dog who is joyfully sprinting across the entire length of the park time after time without losing an ounce of its youthful energy.
LOCATION
1323 Yellow Pine Ave Boulder, Colorado
Holiday Neighborhood
