Alicia, Courtyard Urbanist
@urbancourtyard.bsky.social
Launching the CIMBY (Courtyard In My Backyard) movement in North America, starting in Chicago.
Here are som Berlin courtyard blocks for your timeline. The conversation here is so much better than on X. But the industry people and “people who need to hear it” are on X, as well as internationals.
April 26, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Here are som Berlin courtyard blocks for your timeline. The conversation here is so much better than on X. But the industry people and “people who need to hear it” are on X, as well as internationals.
... support a walkable urban neighborhood, full of social interest and commercial and institutional conveniences. (The conveniences for parents on this block include a swim center, a school, a church, a grocery store, cafe, wine cellar, and a car sharing outfit.)
December 9, 2024 at 4:27 PM
... support a walkable urban neighborhood, full of social interest and commercial and institutional conveniences. (The conveniences for parents on this block include a swim center, a school, a church, a grocery store, cafe, wine cellar, and a car sharing outfit.)
... you give families the "big house with a yard" (and fantastic floor plan!) without sacrificing the density needed to ...
December 9, 2024 at 4:27 PM
... you give families the "big house with a yard" (and fantastic floor plan!) without sacrificing the density needed to ...
Edinburgh, Scotland, shows that when you stack apartments, join them wall-to-wall, and build them right up to the property line to form courtyard blocks ...
December 9, 2024 at 4:27 PM
Edinburgh, Scotland, shows that when you stack apartments, join them wall-to-wall, and build them right up to the property line to form courtyard blocks ...
In a courtyard block, when your kids get the zoomies at a party, you send them outside to play with other kids in the courtyard.
December 2, 2024 at 2:21 AM
In a courtyard block, when your kids get the zoomies at a party, you send them outside to play with other kids in the courtyard.
… not very long ago emigrated from great Dutch cities like Amsterdam, Leiden, Delft, and Utrecht, where they lived and shopped in places like these.
November 30, 2024 at 5:43 PM
… not very long ago emigrated from great Dutch cities like Amsterdam, Leiden, Delft, and Utrecht, where they lived and shopped in places like these.
Driving through Holland, MI, on way back to Chicago, I’m once again blown away that the American Dutch today living in greenfield subdivisions like this and shopping in big box commercial lagoons like this …
November 30, 2024 at 5:43 PM
Driving through Holland, MI, on way back to Chicago, I’m once again blown away that the American Dutch today living in greenfield subdivisions like this and shopping in big box commercial lagoons like this …
To compete with the suburbs for young families, cities should add courtyard blocks to their urban fabric. Replacing surface parking lots and dated single story office buildings along distressed commercial corridors is one place they can start.
November 30, 2024 at 12:56 AM
To compete with the suburbs for young families, cities should add courtyard blocks to their urban fabric. Replacing surface parking lots and dated single story office buildings along distressed commercial corridors is one place they can start.
The inner courtyards provide residents with a safe, car-free green space where their kids can play with neighbor kids without needing direct supervision or transportation.
November 30, 2024 at 12:56 AM
The inner courtyards provide residents with a safe, car-free green space where their kids can play with neighbor kids without needing direct supervision or transportation.
Courtyard BLOCKS are framed by wall-to-wall buildings that are 4-6 stories tall. Commercial on the bottom and residential on top. Residents don’t even have to cross the street to go to grocery store and other daily destinations.
November 30, 2024 at 12:56 AM
Courtyard BLOCKS are framed by wall-to-wall buildings that are 4-6 stories tall. Commercial on the bottom and residential on top. Residents don’t even have to cross the street to go to grocery store and other daily destinations.
The solution to the dilemma (house with a yard without sacrificing density and commercial integration) is courtyard blocks. For millennia, cities have used courtyard blocks to provide residents with a “big house with a yard” AND the conveniences and opportunities of city life.
November 30, 2024 at 12:56 AM
The solution to the dilemma (house with a yard without sacrificing density and commercial integration) is courtyard blocks. For millennia, cities have used courtyard blocks to provide residents with a “big house with a yard” AND the conveniences and opportunities of city life.
Families need a big house with a yard. In US cities, we provide big houses with a yard only in the detached single family home format. These are prohibitively expensive and degrade the urban quality of neighborhoods, which depends on density, diversity, and commercial integration.
November 30, 2024 at 12:56 AM
Families need a big house with a yard. In US cities, we provide big houses with a yard only in the detached single family home format. These are prohibitively expensive and degrade the urban quality of neighborhoods, which depends on density, diversity, and commercial integration.
On the streetside, they have access to the businesses and public conveniences of Vienna.
November 27, 2024 at 8:12 PM
On the streetside, they have access to the businesses and public conveniences of Vienna.
Today, the block remains a beautiful example of the courtyard block form. Residents of all ages have an access to a car-free and sound-insulted green space in the middle of the noisy city ….
November 27, 2024 at 8:12 PM
Today, the block remains a beautiful example of the courtyard block form. Residents of all ages have an access to a car-free and sound-insulted green space in the middle of the noisy city ….
The courtyard had been trashed when the City decided to demolish it. journalists and residents campaigned to improve the central garden and renovate the historic buildings …
mayahabian.weebly.com/english-vers...
mayahabian.weebly.com/english-vers...
November 27, 2024 at 8:12 PM
The courtyard had been trashed when the City decided to demolish it. journalists and residents campaigned to improve the central garden and renovate the historic buildings …
mayahabian.weebly.com/english-vers...
mayahabian.weebly.com/english-vers...
In the 1970s, this Viennese courtyard block was condemned to demolition to make way for a major highway. However, residents fought to preserve the structure and won.
November 27, 2024 at 8:12 PM
In the 1970s, this Viennese courtyard block was condemned to demolition to make way for a major highway. However, residents fought to preserve the structure and won.
Takeaway: we get better disposed units—and smarter lot coverage—when we stack wide and shallow units around the perimeter of a block.
November 27, 2024 at 7:32 PM
Takeaway: we get better disposed units—and smarter lot coverage—when we stack wide and shallow units around the perimeter of a block.
Meanwhile, the thick and squat apartment blocks of Brooklyn have greater lot coverage, but inferior use of outdoor space, lower density, and worse ventilation/natural light.
November 27, 2024 at 7:32 PM
Meanwhile, the thick and squat apartment blocks of Brooklyn have greater lot coverage, but inferior use of outdoor space, lower density, and worse ventilation/natural light.
As @OldUrbanist pointed out in an old blog post, the tall and thin courtyard blocks of Berlin provide greater density AND more outdoor space and ventilation/natural light.
oldurbanist.blogspot.com/2015/06/fall...
oldurbanist.blogspot.com/2015/06/fall...
November 27, 2024 at 7:32 PM
As @OldUrbanist pointed out in an old blog post, the tall and thin courtyard blocks of Berlin provide greater density AND more outdoor space and ventilation/natural light.
oldurbanist.blogspot.com/2015/06/fall...
oldurbanist.blogspot.com/2015/06/fall...
By stacking large condos around a private (but shared) green space, courtyard blocks allow families to have the walkable urban neighborhood AND the big house with the yard.
November 27, 2024 at 7:10 PM
By stacking large condos around a private (but shared) green space, courtyard blocks allow families to have the walkable urban neighborhood AND the big house with the yard.
Cities can increase the supply of family-oriented housing (big house with safe yard space) by adding courtyard blocks to suitable sites (such as federal land and parking lots along commercial corridors).
November 27, 2024 at 7:10 PM
Cities can increase the supply of family-oriented housing (big house with safe yard space) by adding courtyard blocks to suitable sites (such as federal land and parking lots along commercial corridors).
Now for Bluesky, the courtyard block argument:
Modern cities have failed to provide housing for ordinary families. The solution is courtyard blocks, which are uniquely capable of providing residents with the “big house with a yard” but scaled for urban density and commercial integration.
Modern cities have failed to provide housing for ordinary families. The solution is courtyard blocks, which are uniquely capable of providing residents with the “big house with a yard” but scaled for urban density and commercial integration.
November 27, 2024 at 7:10 PM
Now for Bluesky, the courtyard block argument:
Modern cities have failed to provide housing for ordinary families. The solution is courtyard blocks, which are uniquely capable of providing residents with the “big house with a yard” but scaled for urban density and commercial integration.
Modern cities have failed to provide housing for ordinary families. The solution is courtyard blocks, which are uniquely capable of providing residents with the “big house with a yard” but scaled for urban density and commercial integration.
CIMBY (Courtyard In My Backyard) aims to increase the abundance of mixed-use, midrise housing in urban neighborhoods. CIMBY has the specific goal of making cities more attractive to the families who leave cities in search of the “big house with a yard” in the suburbs.
November 27, 2024 at 6:33 PM
CIMBY (Courtyard In My Backyard) aims to increase the abundance of mixed-use, midrise housing in urban neighborhoods. CIMBY has the specific goal of making cities more attractive to the families who leave cities in search of the “big house with a yard” in the suburbs.
Leaving the north side of Chicago for Thanksgiving road trip to west Michigan. This is my three hour window to move courtyard urbanism content to this space …
November 27, 2024 at 6:28 PM
Leaving the north side of Chicago for Thanksgiving road trip to west Michigan. This is my three hour window to move courtyard urbanism content to this space …