TNDs vs. the “California hybrid”

California has many excellent examples of new urban infill, yet until recently has lacked examples of neighborhood-scale projects, especially in the suburbs. Through the 1990s in the Golden State, New Urbanism has influenced the design of many good, relatively small infill projects and a handful of massive master planned communities. The latter incorporate some urban aspects, yet retain fundamental characteristics of conventional suburbia, e.g. curvy, cul-de-sac-laden street networks. Developer Tom DiGiovanni labels that type of project the “California hybrid.” Advocates of New Urbanism in California have been left with a dearth of models outside of cities — and some projects touted as smart growth include elements that new urbanists would be loath to emulate. Now that may be changing with a handful of traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs) that come closer to illustrating a new urban approach on a greenfield site. Doe Mill is a 48-acre TND under construction within the city limits of Chico, a medium-sized college town in north-central California. The project is being developed by DiGiovanni and Jeff Fleeman — both of whom have been active in New Urbanism for the past decade. John Anderson, who planned Doe Mill and is also a partner in the project, was coeditor of TND Series volume one, the first home plan book for New Urbanism, published in 1997. Anderson and DiGiovanni are the two hands-on managers of Doe Mill. The community will have more than 300 homes including single family residences, courtyard units, and 4-, 5-, and 6-plex flats, all within walking distance of a small commercial town center. The first phase, 21 acres, achieves a gross density of 8.4 units per acre, which is more than double that of nearby subdivisions (typical California projects of 3.5-4 units/acre). Streets are narrower than usual, at 26 feet curb to curb with parking on one side. The interconnected block and street pattern is more porous than the norm, and connects to surrounding subdivisions in ways that wouldn’t have happened with a conventional project. Neighborhood greens offer civic spaces, and a postal pavilion will make up the lone civic building. Education process The developers spent uncounted hours educating elected officials, planners, and public safety and works directors. They took a local real estate appraiser and a Realtor on a tour of top-quality new urban projects back East. All of this was to pave the way for approval, financing, and sales. During the approval process, great attention was paid to details — e.g. it took the developers three months to convince officials to allow 12 foot high street light fixtures instead of 18. In order to ensure the quality of home details, the developers have taken on the role of the builder. “We put all of this effort into the first project because we’re hoping it sells itself,” says DiGiovanni. “And that means we won’t have to put the same upfront time and effort into the second one.” One apparent impact is that Doe Mill, approved as a planned unit development, is prompting the city to reexamine its zoning laws, and perhaps create an ordinance allowing this kind of development throughout the municipality. The city will undertake this process during the coming year, DiGiovanni says. Although some compromises have been made in the Doe Mill plan — e.g. parking on both sides of the street was changed to one side of the street, and curb return radii were enlarged — the results so far appear to be successful. Homes are moving well — in the first nine months 35 sales have been made, including three multiplexes, for a total of about 45 units — not including optional accessory units. That’s right on target, DiGiovanni says. Homes are priced from $160,000 to $235,000, with many buyers opting for an extra $43,000 accessory unit above the garage. The latter represents a “nice profit boost” for the developer, yet paradoxically makes homes more affordable. That’s because the carriage units immediately rent for $550/month, which pays the additional mortgage with money left over. Because the banks are willing to take this into account, homeowners who couldn’t otherwise qualify are able to purchase a home with a garage apartment, DiGiovanni says. Smaller bungalow court homes — ranging from 850 to 1,350 square feet — will soon sell for $140,000 to $170,000. Already attracting walkers Even with only three dozen homes up, Doe Mill, with its five-foot-wide sidewalks, has become a haven for pedestrians, DiGiovanni says. “People who have moved in to Doe Mill and others who live in nearby neighborhoods are deciding to take nightly strolls, even though we’re only one-eighth built,” he says. The project has enjoyed strong political support, yet public safety regulators are still skeptical. DiGiovanni and Anderson have tried to maintain good communications with the regulators. Fire personnel have been driving through the neighborhood regularly with their biggest trucks to test equipment accessibility. So far there have been no problems, DiGiovanni says. Meanwhile, the regulators are beginning to understand the benefits of narrow streets. “Now they really understand what we mean by building a street as an amenity,” he explains. The open street network has resulted in cut-through traffic from nearby subdivisions. Prior to the construction of homes in the project, the traffic was moving too fast — which worried DiGiovanni. However, “Now that the houses are up and the street detailing is complete, the speed of the cut-through traffic has diminished radically,” he says. After many years of trying, DiGiovanni reports that his first TND is both more rewarding and difficult than he imagined. “More difficult because taking on the role of builder is a huge step,” he says. “You have to concern yourself with doorknob selection and making sure that the framers and the roofers understand what you are trying to do. We even hired our own trim detailers, because we didn’t want to get into weekly disputes with subcontractors about what we meant by a particular detail.” The developers have attracted some of the town’s best craftspeople on staff. That and good design selection is enabling DiGiovanni and Anderson to bring what they call “practical beauty” to production homes. Doe Mill is already starting to have an influence outside of Chico. Officials from a town 90 miles away came to visit, and then invited the Doe Mill team to bid on an infill project — an offer the team accepted. The Doe Mill developers await that town’s decision on what could be their next neighborhood. Other neighborhood-scale projects underway In addition to Doe Mill, the following neighborhood-scale new urban projects are underway in California: 1) Courtside Village, a 68-acre, 500-unit development under construction in Santa Rosa, will be centered on a mixed-use square. 2) Santana Row, a high density redevelopment of a shopping center by Federal Realty Investment Trust, is underway in San Jose. 3) The Mission Bay development will add 6,000 units, a college campus, offices and retail to downtown San Francisco. 4) The Waterfront District in Hercules will include 500 units and 125,000 square feet of retail on 125 acres. 5) At the San Elijo Hills project near San Diego, a new urban town center is under construction with 250,000 square feet or commercial and 300 residential units. (It should be noted that of these five, Courtside Village and San Elijo Hills Town Center are greenfield developments; the other three are located on previously developed sites). Those and other projects will offer developers and regulators a variety of neighborhood-scale New Urbanism models, which could help to counter the “California hybrid” — examples of which include Otay Ranch near San Diego, Ladera Ranch in Orange County, and Hamilton in Marin County. “We’ve talked to major builders in Southern California and the Bay Area, and guys at the project manager level are dying to do this stuff (New Urbanism),” DiGiovanni explains. “But they can’t get their bosses to do the full-on version, so the California hybrid develops with an emphasis on marketing.”