Smart
Growth/
Smart Living
New construction or infill within the fabric of established neighborhoods.
Walking or biking to most of your daily destinations. Shops with apartments
above them (rather than strip malls). Places to live that promote community.
Traditional Neighorhood Design or New Urbanism, whatever the name it's the
type of life a significant proportion of the population always will prefer.
An
old-neighborhood feel is not a thing of the past
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
28 Aug 2005, by Whitney Gould
...MADISON, WI - Here's why I'm a city girl. From my east side Milwaukee
home I can walk to the drugstore, the movie theater, the bookstore, the
bank, the grocery store, several restaurants and any number of other shops
and services. Lake Park is nearby. My job downtown is just a few minutes
away. I like the cohesiveness and sense of community that comes with urban
living. I don't like wasting money on gasoline - especially as prices edge
toward $3 a gallon.
But if I were going to live in a new subdivision, Grandview Commons on
the east side of Madison would be my kind of place. The houses are close
together, they're bedecked with porches and they hug the street; they come
in colors as diverse as russet, blue, rose and dark-green, and in styles
ranging from modern bungalows to modified Queen Annes.
The lots are small and easy to maintain, with garages in back facing alleys;
and there are well-designed public spaces, from pocket parks to a village
green studded with mature trees. Traffic circles and boulevards are blooming
with native plants. There are breathtaking views of the state Capitol, which
is just a few miles away.
Although still in its infancy, Grandview Commons is already a phenomenal
success, selling faster than any of the 21 subdivisions in Dane County created
by its developer, Veridian Homes, according to David Simon, the firm's president
of operations.
It's easy to see why. In contrast to all those faceless, auto-dependent
subdivisions with huge houses on giant lots, this newcomer has a vibrant
sense of place, akin to the walkable, neighborly communities that many of
us aging baby boomers grew up in. When it is finished, the 235-acre tract
east of I-90, off Cottage Grove Road, will have 1,800 housing units, including
apartments, affordable starter homes, condos, retirement units and homes
as large as 4,000 square feet; 50,000 square feet of offices; and as much
as 100,000 square feet of retail...
There's also the fairness issue. Big-lot subdivisions full of huge houses
price out people of modest means. Also shut out are retired people who would
like to live close to their offspring but can no longer maintain large homes.
Here's my prediction: As more people see the appeal of diverse places like
Grandview Commons, the market and local zoning rules will respond. Before
you know it, real neighborhoods will be born once again.
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