Latino New Urbanism: Building on Cultural Preferences - Center for ...

Urbanist developments, in that the
porch invites neighbors to gather.
In <strong>New</strong> Urbanist developments,
porches are a hub for social leisure
activities. According to Daria Price
Bowman (1997), the porch is a neutral
territory that provides a natural link to
the neighborhood. In <strong>New</strong> <strong>Urbanism</strong>
and the East Los Angeles vernacular
(coupled with the use of the driveway),
the porch is used to increase living and
entertaining options (Bowman 1997).
Latinization of Parks and Public Space
The appropriation of park spaces to
facilitate social activities provides
another example of how <strong>Latino</strong>s adapt
the built environment to meet their
physical and social needs.
There is an obvious carryover from
Latin America to the United States of
the preference for parks and plazas to
serve as the core social setting of a
community or city. Academic work has
acknowledged the importance of
plazas and parks (public spaces) for
Mexicans and Mexican-Americans.
Social historian Charles Flaundrau,
awed by the significance of plazas and
parks in Mexico, wrote
There are city parks and
squares in other countries, but
in none do they play the same
intimate and important part in
the national domestic life that
they do in Mexico ...the Plaza is
in constant use from morning
until late at night ...by eleven
o’clock the whole town will, at
various hours, have passed
through it, strolled in it, played,
Mendez: <strong>Latino</strong> <strong>New</strong> <strong>Urbanism</strong>
sat, rested, or thought in it
(Flaundrau 1964).
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As a result, the US park serves as
<strong>Latino</strong>s’ primary social space outside
the home. The neighborhood park’s
usefulness for social interaction offers
a surrogate for the misplaced plaza
and meets the objectives of many <strong>New</strong>
Urbanist developments. <strong>New</strong>
<strong>Urbanism</strong> attempts to create a greater
sense of community by rethinking the
“public realm,” especially public spaces
and recreational facilities. The
Congress of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Urbanism</strong>, the
leading organization for the movement,
believes cities and towns should be
shaped by physically defined and
universally accessible public spaces,
and community institutions (Fulton,
1996).
Extensive survey work on park usage
among different ethnic and racial
groups in four metropolitan Los
Angeles parks shows that <strong>Latino</strong>s are
the most active and frequent users
(Loukaitou-Sideris 1995). The survey
found that <strong>Latino</strong>s at parks were
involved in sociable activities including
parties, picnics, and celebrations of
birthdays, baptism, and communions.
Their group behavior involved talking
while sitting or standing, eating,
breaking piñatas, playing sports, and
keeping an eye on their children. This
is a great contrast to Anglos, who
primarily participated in mobile, solitary
activities such as jogging, walking,
bicycling, or dog walking. The study
concluded that Anglos valued the park
more for its aesthetic qualities and
natural elements while <strong>Latino</strong>s valued
its opportunities for social interaction.
<strong>Latino</strong>s also were more likely than
other racial and ethnic groups to