Land development
Chapter 15 of the New Urbanism Best Practices Guide
New Urbanism often fits many types of houses and uses into a single neighborhood — a mode of development that demands relatively sophisticated planning. This chapter examines lot dimensions, how much density to aim for, the impact of construction costs, and other facets of neighborhood development. John Anderson of New Urban Builders tells how parking has led him toward laying out lots in six-foot increments. Analyses by Strategic Economics suggest that a medium density often produces the best value in urban locations. A Houston study looks at the most profitable form of transit-oriented development.
Nathan Norris of PlaceMakers outlines the 10 most common mistakes made in traditional neighborhood development (TND): failure to leverage the charrette process adequately, failure to entitle and design a sufficient volume of building-type diversity; failure to develop a house/building plan generation strategy quickly for every lot; failure to create an effective builders guild or building program; letting local engineers undermine the master plan; selling the features of a TND rather than the benefits for owners; hiring real estate agents who do not adequately understand New Urbanism; spending marketing dollars on the wrong things, website overdesign; and failure to pay enough attention to homeowners association documents.
Ten pages of color illustrations from the pattern book of The Waters in Montgomery, Alabama, explain the mixing of lot types in that TND’s Lucas Point neighborhood and the details of lots for large houses, cottages, carriage houses, courtyard houses, townhouses, and other products in The Waters. Habersham developer Robert Turner presents 16 tips for effective TND development. Other topics covered are natural drainage systems, public works and utilities, and involvement of multiple developers in a project.
