By Todd W. Bonnett

I received my copy of the new book Pocket Neighborhoods by Ross Chapin earlier this week and am eager to explore some of the examples and techniques that the book promises. While working on this post I discovered the website which offers some great content and a Design Patterns section depicting some great examples of built neighborhoods and patterns that have been proven successful throughout the country such as Nested Houses and Active Commons.

I am sure some of my excitement for this book comes from reading Richard Florida’s recent piece The New American Dream: Denser, Smaller, Closer, But Still Private in the Atlantic that summarizes some interesting new opinions from the 2011 Community Preference Survey and what is considered the ideal home and neighborhood.  Eight in ten Americans prefer to live in single family detached homes rather than other types such as townhomes, condos, or apartments and a lengthy commute can sway a majority of people to consider smaller homes and lots in order to remain closer to work and other amenities.  The ideal home today is in a denser mixed use neighborhood with businesses, parks, restaurants, and schools that are accessible by walking or mass transit.  Sounds alike like a home in a pocket neighborhood. 

The pocket neighborhood in its many forms offers some great opportunities for in-fill development to meet future housing demands while working within the existing urban forms of our cities, towns, and underperforming suburban neighborhoods. 

It is great to see some additional resources and public opinion confirmation in support of the creating new housing within mixed use communities that support walkability and an increased standard of living.  I have a feeling that we will be working on many of these types of new neighborhoods in the years to come as housing demand increases and large greenfield development becomes less attractive.

 

 

By Todd W. Bonnett

Earlier this year, I attended the 30 year anniversary of Seaside, the landmark resort town planned by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company in the panhandle of Florida.  During the trip I had the opportunity to explore by foot and by bike many of the aspects that make the early New Urbanist resort towns of Seaside and Rosemary Beach such great places.   

Walkability has always been one of primary principles guiding the design of the New Urbanism and the simple yet elegant mid-block pedestrian connections at Seaside and Rosemary Beach make both communities great environments for pedestrians.  I will most likely explore other aspects of these communities and the lessons learned in future posts.   

Seaside, Florida

The pedestrian paths at Seaside are strategically located in mid-block locations and encourage walking to the Central Square, beach, and other destinations within town and beyond.  The location of these pathways expands the pedestrian shed by creating more direct routes and shortcuts.  By simply laying out the location of these paths early in the design process they allow a great place to incorporate utilities and other unsightly items that do not belong in the streetscape.  There almost always exists a need to create easements for various utilities in planned communities and by working early on in the design process to create more than invisible no man’s land between lots a valuable community asset can be created.  While the streets at Seaside are predictably narrow and low speed pedestrian friendly spaces who wouldn’t rather stroll through the pleasant shortcuts between and behind homes to reach their destinations.

Rosemary Beach, Florida

The pathways at Rosemary Beach are considerably more refined and larger in scale than the paths at Seaside.  Many of the paths are defined by an at grade boardwalk as opposed to crushed shell.  These paths still serve the same function and encourage a short cut or more direct route to the beaches and other destinations within town while providing an efficient use of space to accommodate utilities.  Most homes have direct access to these rear yard paths which lead to the beaches or one of the iconic beachside common greens.

Both of these communities effectively use the mid-block connections and rear pedestrian lanes to encourage walkability and utilize the needed space for the placement of unsightly above ground utilities.  It seems like a pretty simple thing to do in the creation of a community. 

Welcome to the inaugural Bonnett Design Group blog post.  We have been considering the beginnings of this blog for several years and have finally decided to jump in.  We will use this forum to explore many topics related to Landscape Architecture, Community Planning, Sustainability, and Urban Design.  The exploration of great public urban spaces and how they form the communities in which we live will be a central theme to many of the posts.