Developers form institutes to keep new urban ideals alive

New Urban News Article with images and sidebar, 9/1/2006

Seaside’s New Institutes Program helps communities establish nonprofit organizations different from homeowners’ associations.

A fundamental premise of New Urbanism is that if streets, sidewalks, and other public and semipublic spaces are laid out properly, community life will tend to flourish. But a growing number of new urbanists argue that it’s not enough to get the physical design right. What’s also needed is community institutions — particularly nonprofit organizations that will sponsor activities and enrich local life.

Which nonprofit organizations might serve those purposes? Not homeowners’ associations, many insist. It’s a mistake to rely on homeowners’ associations to bring the residents into satisfying contact with one another, say longtime new urbanist professionals such as Doris Goldstein.

Homeowners’ associations “focus on private property rights,” and tend to foster exclusivity, said Goldstein, a Jacksonville lawyer who has drawn up legal documents for new urban developments since 1986. Homeowners’ associations “want to save money” and are reluctant to sponsor many activities, Goldstein told a panel discussion on community-building during the CNU annual conference in June in Providence, Rhode Island. “They don’t want mess. They’re not progressive. They want the status quo. They want to keep things simple.”