Ridenour is one of the few large-scale developments

Ridenour is one of the few large-scale developments planned in partnership with an environmental group. The goal was to “create a mixed-use community that would adhere to the principles of Georgia Conservancy’s ‘Blueprints for Successful Communities’ smart growth initiative,” according to developer Steve Macauley. The blueprints initiative called for development in the form of compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly, transit-supportive neighborhoods. Ridenour’s town center, designed around a three block main street and town square, has the intensity of an urban core. Buildings around the central square are four and five stories high. They includes 499,000 sq. ft. of office, 111,000 sq. ft. of retail, a civic building, a hotel, 50 apartments above retail, townhomes, and condominiums. Outside of the town center, Ridenour’s design owes more to cluster concepts than to the New Urbanism. Much of the land will remain in parks, with walking and bicycling trails. Single homes and stand-alone apartments will be grouped into distinct pods. But the compactness of Ridenour (88 acres) means that 90 percent of the residents will be within a five minute walk of the town center — potentially reducing automobile trips significantly.