“Houses could be spitting distance from one another,

“Houses could be spitting distance from one another, a big departure from the supersize lots in many Madison County subdivisions,” the Huntsville Times said in an April report about plans for a TND in that northern Alabama city. Despite its compactness — or perhaps because of the sense of community it conveys — the public expressed enthusiasm for the 260-acre project, known as Providence. Since then, says developer David Slyman, “the city planning and engineering departments have been working non-stop with us to obtain the proper approvals.” The DPZ-designed community is to have approximately 1,000 homes, ranging from live/work units and tiny, attached bungalows, to large detached houses. Houses will be designed by local architects Steve Mouzon and Martin Sisson. Narrow streets, wide sidewalks, a mixed-use village center, and two public schools will help tie the community together. Much of the wooded property is to be left as a protected green space, including a large public park. To improve traffic flow at a prominent intersection, designers have suggested a roundabout, which the local paper said is “almost unheard of in the Deep South.” Slyman Development Co. expects to begin moving earth by early December.