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The Wildwood subdivision, 114-acres of luxury homes near Marengo, McHenry County, northwest of Chicago, features permeable pavement for its streets, walkways and driveways. The developer/builder, Leonard Besinger, asserts it will be the first single-family subdivision in the country in which permeable pavement is installed for all the hardscapes. The hardscape top layer is porous concrete bricks. Water flows through the 5-by-9-inch bricks and then passes through several layers of filtration, including aggregate bedding and permeable geotextile fiber. The water then passes through perforated pipes and seeps into the subsoil and to the aquifer. The Wildwood hardscape should be finished by mid-November. Besinger notes the system eliminates the need for almost all swales alongside the roadways, thus preserving more land and trees. Besinger says permeable paving for most developments is cost prohibitive, as it costs at least three times as much as asphalt paving. Here, however, where the average home price is $2.5 million, the developer feels people should get the best. Besinger explains that permeable pavement holds up as well as or better than asphalt because of the stone subbase and infiltration bed. On the maintenance side, sweeping or vacuuming of debris is required to keep the pavement holes unobstructed.
The Wildwood subdivision, 114-acres of luxury homes near Marengo, McHenry County, northwest of Chicago, features permeable pavement for its streets, walkways and driveways.
The developer/builder, Leonard Besinger, asserts it will be the first single-family subdivision in the country in which permeable pavement is installed for all the hardscapes.
The hardscape top layer is porous concrete bricks. Water flows through the 5-by-9-inch bricks and then passes through several layers of filtration, including aggregate bedding and permeable geotextile fiber. The water then passes through perforated pipes and seeps into the subsoil and to the aquifer.
The Wildwood hardscape should be finished by mid-November. Besinger notes the system eliminates the need for almost all swales alongside the roadways, thus preserving more land and trees.
Besinger says permeable paving for most developments is cost prohibitive, as it costs at least three times as much as asphalt paving. Here, however, where the average home price is $2.5 million, the developer feels people should get the best.
Besinger explains that permeable pavement holds up as well as or better than asphalt because of the stone subbase and infiltration bed. On the maintenance side, sweeping or vacuuming of debris is required to keep the pavement holes unobstructed.
Hardscape democracy is alive in Phoenix, Ariz. Instead of selecting the brick pattern for new sidewalks, the city installed three herringbone patterns on a stretch of sidewalk to let the merchants and transportation officials take a look and decide which look they prefer. The samples are ?EUR??,,????'??warmer?EUR??,,????'?? tones that the city?EUR??,,????'???s existing red brick. The three patterns for the 50-foot demonstration stretch are: 4-by-8-inch brick at a 90-degree angle to the curb 4-by-12-inch brick at a 90-degree angle 4-by-8-inch brick at a 45-degree angle. The new brick will adorn the sidewalks running under the Fourth Avenue underpass to Ninth Street and the stretch of Toole Avenue linking Congress and Broadway. Recycled glass concrete paver bricks will edge the new sidewalks. The chosen pattern may influence the look of new sidewalks throughout the downtown, although this sidewalk project is not directly related to the downtown streetscape project.
Hardscape democracy is alive in Phoenix, Ariz. Instead of selecting the brick pattern for new sidewalks, the city installed three herringbone patterns on a stretch of sidewalk to let the merchants and transportation officials take a look and decide which look they prefer. The samples are ?EUR??,,????'??warmer?EUR??,,????'?? tones that the city?EUR??,,????'???s existing red brick. The three patterns for the 50-foot demonstration stretch are:
The new brick will adorn the sidewalks running under the Fourth Avenue underpass to Ninth Street and the stretch of Toole Avenue linking Congress and Broadway. Recycled glass concrete paver bricks will edge the new sidewalks.
The chosen pattern may influence the look of new sidewalks throughout the downtown, although this sidewalk project is not directly related to the downtown streetscape project.
Michelle Pfeiffer received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 6, 2007, with the usual fanfare and smiling pictures of the star kneeling by her star. It was star number 2,345! That?EUR??,,????'???s a lot of stars, so it is no wonder almost nobody noticed that 70 stars were missing for about three months?EUR??,,????'??+until the Los Angeles Times reported the fact. Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Charlton Heston, Roy Rodgers, Jimmy Durante and Donna Reed were among the stars whisked away during the $500 million hotel-shopping-housing project under construction on Vine Street near Hollywood Boulevard. The famous terrazzo sidewalk squares with their brass stars are secure in a warehouse (sorry, eBay opportunists) and will remain there until the street project is completed sometime in 2009, when the missing stars will be showcased on a revamped walk. The Walk of Fame was installed in 1960. In 1962, the L.A. City Council appointed the Chamber as the institution to handle additions to the Walk of Fame. The Chamber accepts nominations and new recipients once a year. Johnny Grant, Hollywood?EUR??,,????'???s honorary mayor, presides over the ceremonies. To get a star on the Walk of Fame costs $25,000, which includes the ceremony and maintenance of the square.
Michelle Pfeiffer received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 6, 2007, with the usual fanfare and smiling pictures of the star kneeling by her star. It was star number 2,345! That?EUR??,,????'???s a lot of stars, so it is no wonder almost nobody noticed that 70 stars were missing for about three months?EUR??,,????'??+until the Los Angeles Times reported the fact.
Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Charlton Heston, Roy Rodgers, Jimmy Durante and Donna Reed were among the stars whisked away during the $500 million hotel-shopping-housing project under construction on Vine Street near Hollywood Boulevard. The famous terrazzo sidewalk squares with their brass stars are secure in a warehouse (sorry, eBay opportunists) and will remain there until the street project is completed sometime in 2009, when the missing stars will be showcased on a revamped walk.
The Walk of Fame was installed in 1960. In 1962, the L.A. City Council appointed the Chamber as the institution to handle additions to the Walk of Fame. The Chamber accepts nominations and new recipients once a year. Johnny Grant, Hollywood?EUR??,,????'???s honorary mayor, presides over the ceremonies.
To get a star on the Walk of Fame costs $25,000, which includes the ceremony and maintenance of the square.
A laboratory specifically designed to make pedestrian environments safer and easier to use is up and running at University College London, the oldest multi-faculty constituent college of the University of London. By providing detailed insights into how pedestrians are affected by uneven surfaces and visual distractions, for instance, Pedestrian Accessibility & Movement Environment Laboratory (PAMELA) will generate data that leads to improvements in the design of pavements, footways and concourses, and will enable new ideas and products to be tried out. PAMELA consists of three key elements, which enable different, realistic combinations of conditions and their impact on people to be studied in a closely controlled scientific environment. An 80 sq. meter artificial pavement (a computer-controlled platform) simulates everyday scenarios?EUR??,,????'??+pedestrian environments, surface materials, varying pavement conditions, color and texture, gradients, steps and obstacles. Secondly, a lighting system can mimic different daytime/night-time light conditions. The third element is a sound system that can create realistic ambient noise, such as traffic movement, railway announcements. etc. For more information, visit cts.ucl.ac.uk/arg/pamela2
A laboratory specifically designed to make pedestrian environments safer and easier to use is up and running at University College London, the oldest multi-faculty constituent college of the University of London.
By providing detailed insights into how pedestrians are affected by uneven surfaces and visual distractions, for instance, Pedestrian Accessibility & Movement Environment Laboratory (PAMELA) will generate data that leads to improvements in the design of pavements, footways and concourses, and will enable new ideas and products to be tried out.
PAMELA consists of three key elements, which enable different, realistic combinations of conditions and their impact on people to be studied in a closely controlled scientific environment. An 80 sq. meter artificial pavement (a computer-controlled platform) simulates everyday scenarios?EUR??,,????'??+pedestrian environments, surface materials, varying pavement conditions, color and texture, gradients, steps and obstacles. Secondly, a lighting system can mimic different daytime/night-time light conditions. The third element is a sound system that can create realistic ambient noise, such as traffic movement, railway announcements. etc.
For more information, visit cts.ucl.ac.uk/arg/pamela2
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
November 12th, 2025
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