Doug Boone, pioneering new urban developer

Doug Boone, a pioneering new urban developer in the Charlotte, North Carolina, region, died August 2. Boone injected urbanism in a suburban town and opened up the planning process to the public with his New Neighborhood project in the town of Davidson, north of Charlotte. Instead of hiring a planning or engineering firm to design a pod of single-family houses and submit that plan, the usual approach at the time, Boone held a design charrette in the town hall in 1997. The design by Dover, Kohl & Partners integrated a distinctive church, live-work units, townhouses, single-family houses, and public spaces. The project eventually acquired the name "St. Alban's neighborhood," after the church. Like many early new urban developers, Boone faced significant public opposition and regulatory hurdles. But the neighborhood was built, much as designed, and has become a beloved section of the town, according to the Davidson News. More on this project and Boone from Dover, Kohl.

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