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There's little doubt that the suburban tract-house pattern of development of the 1950s is no longer viable in America. Land and gasoline aren’t the cheap commodities they once were. Consumers don’t want to spend hours commuting to and from work, and when they’re at home, they’d rather not drive 20 minutes to the gym or the nearest supermarket. With gasoline expected to climb back up to $4 or more per gallon, transportation and energy costs are going to significantly impact where people want to live. Yet, outdated approaches to residential development persist. Blame it on the economy, the regulatory climate or a lack of creativity, but something’s got to give.
We asked five leading authorities in the architecture, land planning and urban planning fields what they thought was good and bad about community design today, how it can be improved and what we can expect to see in the future.
“A large percentage of residential real estate developed between now and 2025 may be modeled after the compact villages that our forefathers built when this country was first settled.” — David Clinger
Parkways with trees, detached sidewalks and a variety of housing types will create a lower-density look and feel while yielding an average density of 9 to 11 dwelling units per acre. “These 'villages’ maximize privacy between units, provide private courtyard spaces and reduce stormwater runoff,” Clinger says. “They’re all about sustainability.” Such communities provide pedestrian access to neighborhood shops as well as affordable, low-maintenance homes, condos and apartments. Less Pavement, More Green Space
The Expert: Rick Harrison, Rick Harrison Site Design, Golden Valley, Minn.
For Rick Harrison, the future of community design is already here. He’s probably best known as the creator of Prefurbia, a sustainable approach to suburban planning that reduces street length and creates more space (and the perception of space) without sacrificing density. Curved streets, enhanced curb appeal and better pedestrian connectivity are just a few of the benefits.
For Canin Associates, traditional neighborhood development (TND), often married with transit-oriented development (TOD), is the antidote to suburban sprawl. Greg Witherspoon, principal of Canin’s Urban Design & Planning Studio, believes builders and developers are beginning to see the benefits of TND/TOD. “You won’t see anybody doing golf courses for a long time,” says Witherspoon.
For builders, it makes sense to offer multiple housing types that appeal to a variety of demographic groups. “Diversifying their product types is going to buffer them against the marketplace,” says Eliza Harris, an urban planner with the firm. “It’s like diversifying your stock portfolio.”
Amenities, too, need to appeal to multiple generations, Witherspoon says. “For instance, trail systems that allow you get out and be active, whether you’re a Gen Y’er or a baby boomer, are becoming almost necessities in some communities.”
“With infill, you need to think that land planning may not be a matter of a horizontal regime where we put all the townhomes in the townhome corral and all the big houses in the big-house corral. The idea is to mix housing types within neighborhoods.” — Leland Iverson
Harris sees big opportunities for developers in suburban retrofit. “We’ve got large, abandoned or partially vacant strip malls that require a master developer to come in and take charge. In some cases, these projects are going to involve a lot more vertical development.” Tony Weremeichik, principal of Canin’s Architectural Design Studio, thinks local governments will begin encouraging infill development through such incentives as density bonuses, reduced impact fees and public/private partnerships. One of Canin’s latest projects is Restoration (shown), a master plan near Daytona, Fla., that aims to create a more equitable balance of jobs and housing. Every resident will be within a 10-minute walk or streetcar ride of grocery stores, employment, schools, parks, natural open spaces and other amenities. If built as anticipated, the ratio of jobs to housing will be between 0.9 and 1.3.Create a Sense of PlaceThe Expert: Randal Jackson, The Planning Center, Costa Mesa, Calif.The Arboretum, a master plan in North Fontana, Calif., completed in 2009, ties residential villages, schools and recreational facilities together with community gardens and a 10-acre park. Recreation centers include garden walks, themed gardens with shade pavilions and a replication of the city’s historic citrus groves.
In Randy Jackson’s opinion, the chickens have come home to roost as far as residential community planning is concerned. “We’ve had such fervor in development over the past few years, we didn’t take the time to look at how communities live and mature and create long-term value,” Jackson says. “Now we’re paying for part of that. The communities that are still selling pretty well are the ones that have great structure and a sense of place.”
Future communities will have to be much smaller in scale, he says, because it’s unlikely developers and builders will be able to get financing for projects that comprise thousands of homes. “Neighborhoods will be definable — 30, 40 acres at the most. All of the residents will get to know each other. And we won’t worry about what’s attached and detached because the architecture alone is blurring that right now. You’re getting the sense of single-family, attached product and apartment product together in the same building.”
The Planning Center is currently designing intergenerational housing where “mom and dad, the kid that moves back home after college, and grandma can live together, yet each have their own space. When grandma passes away, they can convert her living quarters into a rental unit for the next generation.”
The company is also exploring the idea of reintroducing agriculture to suburban communities to make them sustainable. For example, a few master-planned communities have incorporated working farms and large community gardens, selling whatever is grown or raised to local residents and businesses. The Arboretum (shown) offers an already-built example.
Lastly, Jackson says, infill development is going to heat up. “Corridor planning is going to be extremely important. Cities will expand beyond their boundaries and have to come together to find solutions for housing, commercial and jobs, rather than just solving those problems individually.”