Chapter 6 ~ New Urbanism Seaside, FL. New Urbanism as explained by the Congress for New Urbanism New urbanism developments create walkable neighborhoods, rather than large, single-use developments connected by streets hostile to pedestrians. It provides a range of housing choices, from apartments over storefronts to single-family homes with yards. Careful, participatory planning ensures that everyone in the neighborhood has easy access to the necessities of life, making life easier for kids, the elderly, and people who don't want to drive. Principles of New Urbanism 3 categories: The Region: Metropolis, City and Town The overall context for all planning. Comprehensive metropolitan strategy to include homes and jobs for people of all incomes. Develop in appropriate style for the surroundings, while respecting their neighbors. Green band wilderness/farmland boarder creating clear boundaries. From the CNU website The Neighborhood, the District, and the Corridor Diverse, walkable neighborhoods. Neighborhood ~ contains a center and an edge. The center is a public space (square, green, important intersection). 5 minute walk (about a quarter mile) to daily needs: home, mass transit, stores, workplace, schools, place of worship, recreation areas, etc. Harbortown on Mud Island in Memphis, Tenn. The Block, the Street, and the Building Buildings opening to sidewalk. Safe, comfortable streets and sidewalks to accommodate cars, pedestrians, bikes, etc.         Windows and doors facing sidewalk. Important locations reserved for "grand" buildings while other building respect their context. --- Harbortown on Mud Island in Memphis, Tenn. New Urbanism tries to recapture not merely the form but also the functioning of the Victorian suburb (transit oriented developments, transit villages, Garden Cities).     [close similarities to the traditional neighborhood] victorian suburb ~ housing with shops in 'walking' distance and transit (train) in 'walking' distance with higher densities than other automobile oriented developments. New Urbanist develpments are highly controled enviroments as far as what can be built and the conditions as to how it is developed. Components of a Traditional 'Neighborhood' 1) The center, a place within the neighborhood that focuses on common (civic) activities of the residents. 2) The five-minute walk, the ability to walk anywhere they need to go for daily needs within about five minutes. 3) The street network, a web of pattern generally a grid that allows multiple ways of getting from one place to another. 4) Narrow, versatile streets, many smaller streets that can accommodate the traffic of the town but discourage excessive speed through the town. This also allows for wider sidewalks to promote walking life and activity safely while still allowing automobile mobility for those who want or need to drive where they need to go. 5) Mixed use, having a versatile, flexible definition of use for a building or area of the building. Rather than having single-use zoning of sprawl, there is more of a form of zoning that focuses more on how the physical building fits into the area without regard to what will occur within the building. 6) Special sites for special buildings, devoting unique sites to the building that create the collective identity of the community; special areas for civic buildings which enhance the prominence of the building and its function.

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