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The pre-World War II style of building homes within walking distance of shops is making a splash here.
By LOGAN D. MABE
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 25, 2001
Some of the vanguards of New Urbanism development aren't really that new when you consider developments such as Georgetown in Washington, D.C., Coral Gables in Miami-Dade County, and Seaside, The Truman Show setting in Florida's panhandle.
But the development style, decades in the making, is beginning to make a splash in Hillsborough County. Local examples would include Hyde Park Village, Centro Ybor and the burgeoning West Park Village at Westchase.
What sets these neighborhoods apart is that they have gridlike street patterns with smaller blocks, and sidewalks and businesses within easy walking distance. The typical suburban subdivisions tend to feature winding cul de sacs and limited access far away from commercial centers. Because there is virtually nothing within walking distance and sidewalks lead to nowhere, residents rely almost solely on cars to get around.
New Urbanism is a development concept geared to support a lifestyle in which residents can walk to a town center, post office, doctor's office, schools and stores. It combines high-density residential housing with commercial development.
It's often called "traditional neighborhood development," because that's the way things used to be, said Matt Shannon, director of development for Duany Plater-Syberk & Co., a Miami-based pioneer of the style. Shannon spoke on the subject Thursday at the Planning Commission's monthly Regional Economic Information Network seminar.
"New Urbanism is really just going back to where we were before World War II," said Ray Chiaramonte, assistant director for the Planning Commission and a new resident of West Park Village. "It's a reaction against our post-World War II urbanism where the pedestrian was not the prime concern. This is something that worked for hundreds of years all over the world. But the past was not looked on as something good. The past was the Depression, the past was the war."
What rose in its wake, Chiaramonte said, was the modern suburban subdivision that relied on "dead worm development," endless arrays of cul-de-sac roads where the predominant architectural features of homes are garages and driveways.
"In the suburbs, you're not really sure whether cars or people live in the neighborhoods," Shannon said, describing places such as Arvida's Weston development in western Broward County as "deadening uniformity."
But things are changing, Shannon said. Developers are beginning to see the success achieved in places like Seaside, which actually started in 1980, and Disney's Celebration, which grew to prominence in the 1990s.
The 80-acre Seaside community was assessed at about $1-million before the first shovel of dirt was turned. Now, it's worth about $60-million, Shannon said.
Part of what makes New Urbanism "new" is that it is taking root far from city centers. Shannon identified at least five undeveloped areas in the Northwest Hillsborough master plan that could support traditional neighborhood development.
"It really is about replicating the very best of whatever has worked best in the past," Shannon said. "Planning for the pedestrian is the No. 1 priority."
That means straight streets with ample sidewalks; parks and central gathering places; distinctive architecture; and easy walking access to shops and services.
Shannon said surveys show that New Urbanism is attractive to at least 30 percent of the home-buying public, while it accounts for only about 1 percent of new building in America. But it's catching on.
In addition to West Park Village, whose town center is scheduled for completion in May, Shannon's company is designing Winthrop Village, a 184-acre traditional neighborhood development in Brandon.
- Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 813-226-3464 or at mabe@sptimes.com.