New Urbanism Thrives

Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND), an offshoot of the New Urbanism movement, has taken hold throughout the country—but particularly in Northeast Florida.

Such projects often feature close-set, neotraditional homes with porches, not garages, as architectural focal points. Town centers encompass stores, restaurants, schools, churches and sometimes civic buildings.

More than 3,000 mixed-use developments employing the principals of New Urbanism are under way nationwide, according to the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU), a San Francisco-based organization that acts as a resource for developers and consumers.

More than a half-dozen Northeast Florida projects are either classic TNDs or hybrids that include key TND characteristics such as town centers, on-site schools and a variety of housing options. Those projects include: Fleming Island Plantation and OakLeaf Plantation (Jacksonville" target="_blank">Clay County); Bartram Springs and Harbortown (Jacksonville" target="_blank">Duval County); Amelia Park (Nassau County); and Julington Creek Plantation, Palencia and World Golf Village (St. Johns County).

Northeast Florida's leading role may be only natural considering the fact that New Urbanism began in Florida, when architects and CNU founders Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk designed Seaside, an oceanfront Panhandle community modeled after an old-time village.

The plan for Seaside emerged as Duany and Plater-Zyberk, a husband-and-wife team, visited cities such as Charleston, Savannah and Key West. By dusting off turn-of-the-century notions about town planning, the pair created a sensation and launched a movement.

Following are 13 points developed by Duany and Plater-Zyberk describing the characteristics of New Urbanism:

• The neighborhood has a discernible center.

• Most dwellings are within a five-minute walk of the center.

• There are a variety of dwelling types, including houses, rowhouses and apartments.

• There are shops and offices at the edge of the neighborhood of sufficient variety to meet the weekly needs of an average person.

• A small ancillary building is permitted in the backyard of each dwelling. It may be used as a rental unit or as a place to work.

• An elementary school is close enough to the neighborhood that most children can walk to school.

• There are small playgrounds not more than one-tenth mile from each dwelling.

• Streets within the neighborhood are a connected network that disperses traffic by providing a variety of pedestrian and vehicular routes to any destination.

• Streets are relatively narrow and shaded by rows of trees.

• Buildings in the neighborhood center are placed close to the street.

• Parking lots and garage doors rarely front the street. Parking is relegated to the rear of the buildings, usually accessed by alleys.

• Certain sites are reserved for civic buildings.

• The neighborhood is organized to be self-governing.