Nov 20, 2009

A Suburban, Gated Subdivision Meets New Urbanism


Chelsea and I found this interesting subdivision when we took our field trip up to Whittier Mill.




Vinings on the Chattahoochee is a gated subdivision (there was no gatehouse and we found the gate open) that appears to be inspired by new urbanism, while retaining characteristics of a traditional suburban subdivision.

The subdivision is made up of a mix single family detached homes (above right) and attached townhomes (below).

Even the detached homes had small lots and were densely grouped as is typical in new urbanists' residential planning (especially residential areas just outside of the "downtown" areas).














Sidewalks line the streets, and suggest that residents may walk to the subdivision's amenities like a clubhouse (pictured below left), tennis courts, a "Bahama Room" (whatever that is) and some ground floor retail space below the townhomes located at the center of the subdivision (empty at present).



























Notice in the above photo that the sidewalk is nearly impassable because the stairs to the front door leave only about 3 feet of sidewalk and then the mailbox takes up a little more than a foot of that.

Oh, and that cul-de-sac that is characteristic of suburban subdivisions and is abhorred by new urbanists every where, well this subdivision has found a creative solution to exclude cul-de-sacs while still making certain the subdivision is secure. See below.



There were a number of these dead ends; some of them were festooned with picket fences, but none of them simply dead ended into a house or driveway. This wasn't the only perplexing design feature we saw. In a relatively small subdivision, where some (though not all) streets were lined with sidewalk, we were confused by the number of parking spaces in front of the clubhouse and tennis courts.

You'll also notice that the streets are curvilinear (see first photo), a feature typical in suburban developments, but eschewed by proponents of new urbanism.

1 comment:

  1. Blasted blogspot layout! I think I figured out which images you were referring to, but the slipperiness is quite annoying. Regardless, very good images and excellent analysis and description. The long, deep exterior staircases are so bizarre--meant to convey the feeling of a 19th-century city but with the shallow rise of a standard interior stair. And I suppose few people will ever notice the missing sidewalk space.

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