‘New urbanist’ communities still run into roadblocks
Twenty-five years ago, Robert Gibbs spoke at the First Congress of New Urbanism, a landmark event that helped solidify principles of "new urbanist" communities, such as conventional street layouts, a mixture of uses, walkable neighborhoods and traditional architecture.
Since then, dozens of such communities have been completed, including wellknown examples Seaside, Florida, and Kentlands, Maryland. Dozens more are on the drawing board, among them Evans Farm, a 1,400acre development planned in Delaware County's Orange and Berlin townships.
Despite the successes of the movement, Gibbs continues to find the new urbanist ship hard to steer.
"They're still illegal in almost every municipality we work with," said Gibbs, who will speak on a panel Monday in Lewis Center devoted to walkable communities.
Zoning restrictions, many of them decades old, often prohibit the small lots, narrow streets, sidewalk retail and mixed uses that new urbanist communities demand. Gibbs said a project he is working on in the Detroit suburb of Novi, for example, required 118 zoning variances.
"It’s a lot easier than it was 25 years ago, but it’s still like hitting my head against the wall," Gibbs said from his office in Birmingham, Michigan.
"A lot of developers don’t understand it and engineers are stuck in the ’50s. But the market’s there and we know how to do these well."
Gibbs finds the barriers especially frustrating because he believes demand is enormous for wellplanned neighborhoods with a variety of housing, walkable streets and commercial and public destinations. Demand from baby boomers in particular is “overwhelming,” he said.
“An estimated 50 percent of consumers want to live in walkable communities; 40 percent hate them,” Gibbs said. “But the 50 percent have nothing to buy.”
Still, Gibbs is bullish ■ Robert Gibbs, Monica Johnson and Michael Watkins will discuss walkable communities from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at Nationwide Hotel & Conference Center, 100 Green Meadows Drive S. in Lewis Center. The event is free and open to the public.
about the future of innovative developments and is confident that they will “out-compete” traditional suburbs and retail centers.
In central Ohio, Evans Farm may be the most ambitious “new urbanist” community, but other examples abound.
Jerome Village in Union County is expected to eventually include mixed uses in a walkable setting. Dublin is transforming its center city with the pedestrian-friendly Bridge Street project. New Albany is slowly adding commercial activity to its center. And Easton, a pioneer in new urbanist retail, is adding more residential to the mix.
In addition, some Columbus urban infill projects include great examples of mixed uses: the Arena District, Grandview Yard, the Jeffrey Mining site in Italian Village and the proposed redevelopment of the area opposite High Street from Ohio State University.
Gibbs also knows not every new development idea leads to success. He was a planner with the Taubman company when it built City Center Mall in Downtown Columbus in 1989.
“It was a beautiful building,” Gibbs said. “But it didn’t really contribute to its urban setting.”