Residents of Kentlands, the Gaithersburg, Maryland, TND, took

Residents of Kentlands, the Gaithersburg, Maryland, TND, took control of their destiny with regards to Midtown, the town center. The developer, Guy Beatty, wanted to build a 180,000 square foot Target superstore — claiming that a smaller, pedestrian-oriented town center would not work financially. Residents, who are highly educated about New Urbanism, protested to city planners to force the developer to build a new urbanist plan. “We didn’t get everything we wanted, but we got a lot,” says resident Diane Dorney. “We got the huge big box broken down into four smaller big boxes, and we got some nice shops and restaurants, and a skating rink.” The town center also will have a six-screen cinema and a town square which will be a focal point for Kentlands and Lakelands (a new TND which will be built adjacent to Kentlands). The wrangling over design is part of the reason why Midtown is only now under construction, two and a half years after the design charrette.