The City Council of Thousand Oaks recently voted to approve the Thousand Oaks Blvd Specific Plan.  Part of the plan contains provisions for vertical mixed-use, where residential units are allowed to be built on top of commercial retail spaces immediately below.  It was quite a victory for supporters of the mixed-use concept, although at one point many were concerned that the plan would not pass based on questions and concerns expressed by some council members (it ultimately passed 4-1).

There was a time in the nation when in communities large and small, mixed-use was the norm rather than the exception.  Families lived upstairs above their restaurants, their coffee shops, or their hair salons.  It would take them only a few steps down to serve their customers, most of whom they likely knew as neighbors and friends.  Even Wal-Mart started out in small town communities amidst mixed use buildings before it became the ubiquitous and non-descript single-use big box surrounded by a sea of parking it is today.

After decades of zoning ordinances segregating the uses, e.g. commercial shops separated from residential areas, industries light and heavy from office uses, while suburbia has gained a strong foothold in the American urban landscape, mixed use went from the standard form of urban living to a novelty many Americans would hesitate to consider again.

   

Brian D. Brodersen