Hybrids on the Rise

As the New Urbanism rides a crest of public attention, more developers are incorporating ideas from the movement into suburban-style projects. Arecent article on New Urbanism in Time magazine mentioned Centennial, a “New England-type TND” north of Indianapolis.This 360-acre master-planned village is marketed by its developer, the Estridge Companies, as a reenvisioning of a traditional village built around a central green and an “Amish-built” church. Centennial does not explicitly promote itself as a TND (traditional neighborhood development), but the developer uses many new urbanist themes to attract buyers: a simpler, community-centered lifestyle, planned streetscapes, use of local architectural vernacular, and pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly spaces. Centennial differs from many cookie cutter developments. Streets connect to arterial roads in five places, and the project includes a central park, mix of uses and housing types. The street and block pattern, however, is a cross between conventional suburbia and a traditional grid, with many loop roads reducing interconnectivity. The houses, too, mostly have garages in front and would not be out of place in a typical suburban project. Centennial is one of a growing number of hybrid projects spawned by the popularity of the New Urbanism (NU). Some purists view hybrids as a threat to NU, because these projects blur the lines between NU and conventional suburban development (CSD). Others view hybrids as a step in the right direction. Regardless, they are probably here to stay. For one thing, they often sell very well. Estridge spokesman Tom Korecki says interest from home buyers has been so strong (45 units sold in the first month), that the company is considering using Centennial as a prototype for future developments. Kirkland Chase, a greenfield site under construction in Batavia, Illinois, also promises “a traditional neighborhood setting” as a selling point. Press coverage of the project repeatedly invokes NU, and some elements are there. The 39 townhomes are fitted with garages in the rear. The project has a central public space, an oblong green with a gazebo, and two-story commercial buildings are served by rear parking. But the commercial buildings are lined up like a strip mall, with nothing on the other side of the road to create enclosure. And the majority of the project consists of 56 single homes on large lots and no street grid. Many developers of hybrids have a sincere desire to build communities that are different from conventional models. They may hedge their bets by offering some of both NU and CSD. One example is Rancho Viejo, a 160-acre village being built outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. The central portion of the plan is clearly NU. Yet, this fairly dense section is surrounded by widely scattered estate lots on cul-de-sacs. In some instances hybrids may work as a valuable transitional phase for builders and developers. Mike Green, a developer of Milestone in Pensacola, Florida, and Historic Malbis in Daphne, Alabama, illustrates that point. Milestone belongs in the hybrid category, with relatively conventional homestyles and a commercial center on a modified grid of streets. In Historic Malbis, Green’s subsequent project, the new urbanist vision is more thoroughly implemented, with alleys that move garages to the back of homes, and a better connected street grid. Both projects are selling remarkably well. In addition to the projects that are conceived as hybrids, some new urbanist projects become hybrids because problems with financing or plan approvals force developers to make compromises.