A New Main Street?

[chargirlgenius]

Right now, I'm reading Last Harvest: From Cornfield to New Town: Real Estate Development from George Washington to the Builders of the Twenty-First Century, and Why We Live in Houses Anyway

It's the story depicting the process of building New Daleville, a new Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) community in southern Chester County, PA. It's interesting - the community is small, yet they're aiming at TND standards. The community is so small, that it doesn't support any commercial activity, so it's only going part of the way.

Anyway, the author also mentions another new TND community being built in Berks County, PA. Bryn Eyre is much bigger than New Daleville, with three elementary schools planned, lots of commercial and business, and some five square miles of new town development. It will have a Main Street.

A paragraph on their first page describes their goals:

As was done in Pennsylvania’s historic towns, Bryn Eyre will offer homes on smaller lots with gathering places like neighborhood greens, parks, town squares, and playgrounds. Shops and restaurants will be within walking distance of most residences, workplaces will be close to housing and the town will enjoy the sense of close community that was once the defining characteristic of American small town life.

Yes, I'm sure that it's part truth, part sales pitch, but it sure is exciting!

Since a good portion of my f-list is in PA, has anybody heard of either of these projects? Opinions from the Gallery? Is anybody aware of any other TND community projects in the mid-Atlantic? I'm interested in anything from VA to NJ. (I know of Kentlands and South Riding - driven through them both.)

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On a more personal level, I wonder about the culture of the urban planning degree programs. Are they cutthroat and nasty, or do they have a more "we have to work together to accomplish stuff" attitude?

Comments

[paquerette.livejournal.com]

I had not heard of either of them, but it sounds pretty cool. We do still have quite a few towns left that are old timey though. They could probably use some revitalization and more jobs, but there are a few places in northeast PA where you could conceivably go car-free and all that.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

I think that older neighborhood revitalization, plus smart growth, is the best option. There just isn't enough inventory of older houses, so there will inevitably be some sort of growth.

I'd love to live in an older neighborhood.

[ladyaneira.livejournal.com]

Haven't heard of either of those, but it sure sounds a lot like our neighborhood. You should come visit. :-)

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

I'm totally jealous of your neighborhood. And I would like to take you up on that offer sometime. :-D

[ladyaneira.livejournal.com]

You're welcome any time. Heh, I just googled our neighborhood and found we've got a Wikipedia entry. How cool is that? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh_Court,_Roanoke,_Virginia

[alienor.livejournal.com]

This website (http://www.tndtownpaper.com/neighborhoods.htm) has a fairly extensive list. I can't think of any that I've seen that aren't on here (I've always loved Clarendon, though it's a PitA to get to).

[greta-k.livejournal.com]

They don't list one of the granddaddies of them all, Radburn in New Jersey. Greenbelt in Maryland, which was designed and built in the 1930's - yes. Radburn, laid out in 1929 and still going strong - no. Of course, Radburn is mostly residential, with a train stop in the middle and shopping nearby, at the periphery. That's where the parking is located, too.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

I think the most interesting part of my reading so far is that the idea of a planned community isn't new, not by a long shot. So many of our vibrant communities were planned at the outset, maybe 100, maybe 200 years ago. People will often say "master planned" with sort of contempt, but it's not like the great old communities, like Old Town Alexandria, popped up naturally.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

I've seen that list. I know there must be some, since the two I talked about in my post aren't on it.

[greta-k.livejournal.com]

I know that there was one in Davidson, NC which was built @1999/2000 which was touted as a model for TND. It's about 30 minutes north of Charlotte, NC.

Clarendon and Ballston in VA are more of an urban development model than a TND. Pretty good urban models, however, but not really the same as a town model.