Courtyard Block with Alicia Pederson

Imagine a city where kids play safely in lush courtyards, neighbors bond over shared spaces, and errands are just a step away. Courtyard urbanist Alicia Pederson shares how this European housing model could transform American cities for families.

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Show notes & links

• Find Alicia here: Bluesky & Twitter
• Things we spoke about:
  • The Urban Family Exodus Is a Warning for Progressives by Derek Thompson
  • The Chicago Two-Flat
  • Chicago Bungalow Belt
• Single stair / point access buildings:
  • Building for People: Designing Livable, Affordable, Low-Carbon Communities by Michael Eliason
• More on Courtyard Blocks
  • Can Courtyard Blocks Make Cities More Family Friendly?
  • The residential perimeter block: principles, problems and particularities
  • Editorial: The Perimeter Block Alone Does Not Guarantee a Lively Urban Environment

Courtyard Block with Alicia Pederson

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Episode Takeaways

1. Courtyard Blocks as a Family-Friendly Urban Typology
   Courtyard blocks (or perimeter blocks) are characterized by buildings framing a city block, creating a shared green courtyard. This design supports family living by offering a safe, private outdoor space for children to play.
2. Advantages of Courtyard Blocks
   They combine urban density with private, shared green space. This typology is ideal for families, allowing kids to play safely without constant supervision, while preserving the benefits of city living.
3. Successful Examples in Europe
   Cities like Copenhagen, Prague, and Vienna showcase the effectiveness of courtyard blocks in creating family-friendly urban environments. Copenhagen’s efforts in revitalizing neglected courtyards exemplify how this typology can enhance urban living.
4. Walkability and Mixed-Use Integration
   Courtyard blocks often feature commercial or office spaces on the ground floor, with residential units above. This integration promotes walkability and convenience for residents, reducing reliance on cars.
5. Challenges in Adapting Courtyard Blocks to the U.S.
   American cities face hurdles like car dependency, zoning setbacks, and dual egress building codes. Solutions include adapting parking designs (e.g., parking podiums) and targeting distressed commercial corridors for redevelopment.
6. Zoning and Development Roadblocks
   Variances for parking reductions and setbacks are often required for courtyard block projects. Financing can also be a barrier, as developers and investors may struggle to find comparable models in the U.S.
7. Aspirational Housing for Families|
   Many urban families seek larger homes with safe outdoor spaces, often moving to the suburbs due to limited options. Courtyard blocks can provide an urban alternative, preserving families in cities.
8. Potential for Public and Private Collaboration
   Federal initiatives like repurposing unused land for housing (e.g., USPS sites) present opportunities for courtyard block development. Local governments could facilitate this by providing guidelines or rethinking platting patterns.
9. Cultural Shift in American Urbanism
   There’s a need to reimagine urban living to reflect European-style density and walkability. This includes advocating for shared green spaces, commercial integration, and family-oriented housing designs.
10. Economic and Environmental Benefits
    Proper urbanism (e.g., integrating big-box retailers into urban formats) benefits cities economically while reducing car dependency. Developers and retailers can capitalize on walkable, dense neighborhoods to create vibrant urban spaces.

Guest Bio

Alicia Pederson, Ph.D, is a member of the Greater Rockwell Organization’s Urban Planning & Development Committee, Strong Towns Chicago, and Urban Environmentalists. She is the mother of three children enrolled in a Lincoln Square elementary school.

“The buildings are built right up to the property line, and they completely frame a city block. Usually they are four to six stories tall, and they are common throughout continental Europe. The individual buildings are built wall to wall. So when the entire block is framed by building, the inner becomes a courtyard.”

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Episode Transcript

[00:00:00]

Alicia Pederson: the residents of courtyard blocks can have the radical luxury of being able to open their back door and let their kids play in the center of a block with other neighbor kids and knowing that the kids can’t get out and stranger danger can’t get in.

intro

Journey with Purpose: Welcome to journey with purpose. This is episode 34. I’m your host Randy Plemel If we haven’t met before, I’m the owner of expedition works. A small, but mighty design and innovation studio located, hearing beautiful Queens, New York. Where we help residents and governments improve their neighborhoods and listen to each other just a little bit. So our last episode at the end of last year was all about 15 minutes cities, how they’re kind of a throwback to what we used to build. 

And it was really looking for a way to understand what direction we should be going. And so in keeping with more positive views so that we can help act local in this time of uncertainty. We want to start offering possible [00:01:00]policy proposals to help improve our neighborhoods so that we can both house more people. We can house more people cheaply, and we can give people the types of neighborhoods we all deserve. 

Today we speak with Chicago activists, who shares with us the concept of courtyard blocks.

Welcome to the podcast. Please tell us who you are, where we’re speaking to you from, and what do you do?

Alicia Pederson: I am Alicia Pedersen, and I am a courtyard urbanist. I advocate for building courtyard blocks to optimize our cities for families, and I am based in Chicago. I live in Chicago with my husband and our three children in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, which is a north side neighborhood off the Brown Line.

I’m a total amateur. I do not do this professionally. I’m an English teacher. but I got involved in urban planning and development in my local community because really I was concerned about the noticeable decline of young families and was, you know, paying attention to the real estate causes of this decline in families and had this experience of living [00:02:00] in a courtyard block and understanding how family friendly this urban type is and wanting to bring it to the U.S. 

Journey with Purpose: So what is a courtyard block?

Alicia Pederson: Well, a courtyard block importantly differs from a courtyard building, and then a courtyard block is also called a perimeter block because The buildings are built right up to the property line, and they completely frame a city block. Usually they are four to six stories tall, and they are common throughout continental Europe. The individual buildings are built wall to wall. So when the entire block is framed by building, the inner becomes a courtyard. The buildings tend to be wider but shallower so more of the interior of the block is preserved as a courtyard which can be used as basically a park.

Journey with Purpose: And what’s the advantage of a courtyard block? 

Alicia Pederson: historically the major advantage and why I’m so interested in it is that it provides residents of the block with a private but shared green [00:03:00] space. And so if you’re a parent the big problem in