Group brings new ideas for LI development

A multistory parking garage in Miami so visually striking that wedding receptions have been held there.

A "pocket neighborhood" in Langley, Wash., with cottages built around garden courtyards. Multiunit affordable "workforce" housing in Aspen, Colo., designed to look like individual homes.

Those are a few examples of actual downtown redevelopment projects the Long Island Index showcases on a new website -- ideas the group hopes will find acceptance here.

The website -- buildabetterburb.org -- went live last week. It was created to give Long Islanders "a place to go see some great ideas," said Ann Golob, director of the Index, which gathers data and issues reports on the region and is published by the Rauch Foundation.

"The ability to build by just mowing down potato fields . . . will not work at this juncture," Golob said. "We believe much can be done by focusing on our downtowns."

The website is organized around four ideas:

"Housing reinvented" -- providing options other than high-priced, single-family homes that most young workers can't afford.

"More transit/less parking" -- advocating turning surface parking lots into transit hubs and other downtown development.

"Thinking regionally" -- planning projects differently.

"Creating a sense of place" -- building destination downtowns.

The website is an outgrowth of the Index's "Build a Better Burb" competition last year, which awarded $22,500 in cash prizes to the creators of a half-dozen designs that re-imagined Long Island development.

"We keep coming up against the argument that people are scared of how it's going to change their community, and they're upset about the fact that so much of this kind of housing can look really ugly," Golob said. "We wanted to get out there and say it doesn't have to be ugly. It can be beautiful." Golob said the website also offers practical zoning advice to aid residents under its "resources and tools" section.

"We're trying to take information at both the technical level and visual level to both inspire people and give people information they need to work with their own local government" to bring about change, she said.

"These ideas are not pie-in-the-sky," Golob added. "They are really brick and mortar."