These are troubled times for developers who invested in suburban land. Rather than sit this one out and wait for the market to turn around, it may be time to rethink and redesign a portion of your conventional subdivision layouts to a mixed-use, higher density, sustainable walkable village.

Other options are being considered by astute “Smart-Growth” builders and developers.  Creating compact neighborhoods within our cities, redeveloping infill sites, or creating high-density mixed-use projects at rail stations are timely alternatives to the conventional suburban subdivision model.  These concepts may solve some of our high energy costs.  They will reduce the impact of the automobile on our lives and create places to live where we get to know our neighbors.  Compact, sustainable, walkable neighborhoods will also reduce sprawl and housing costs, creating long term values for residents and cities.

A look back
When this country was first settled, our forefathers created compact villages. These settlements were designed around town squares. Most of the homes were located within walking distance to the village center which became the focal point where residents met, shopped, worked and worshipped. These settlements were a repeat of the compact European Village model. As cities grew the downtown center continued to be the focal point for development and various homes, townhomes and apartments were built close to these centers.

After World War II, returning military personnel and their families set up shop in suburbia. The suburban model was encouraged by Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Affairs’ subdivision codes which promoted and featured single-family homes centered on standard sized lots and served by wide streets to accommodate the increased use and parking required for automobiles. The Interstate system continued this trend of auto-dependent, suburban-tract developments, which sprang up all over the country. With the cheap price of land, gas, and the predominant need for more bedrooms, this model shaped how most families lived in the United States from the late 40s through the 90s.

Low-density tract developments gobbled up farms and forest land, creating a model that was criticized by urban planners but was loved by most Americans. As more and more land was consumed, traffic jams increased. The suburban-tract layout created an auto-dependent lifestyle (10-12 average daily trips per home) which generated constant congestion. Air quality, pollution of watersheds and reduction of open space became a concern.

After the Savings and Loan crisis, a slow shift from suburbia to urban infill began, but the exurbia model still dominated new development in the United States. A typical example of this slow shift began to occur in the Denver-metro area. Redevelopment of Lodo in downtown Denver began to attract residents who wanted to live closer to work, shopping and play. The redevelopment of the old Lowry Air Force Base and the Stapleton Airport site, which featured “New Urbanism,” became the new “hip” place to live. Cherry Creek, a close-in mix of townhomes, condos and apartments began to evolve next to an upscale regional shopping mall. Cherry Creek North with its quaint shops and restaurants attracted suburbanites who traded in their long commute for a “Walkable Village” lifestyle. Today the average price of these units approaches $1,000 per square foot.

This slow shift accelerated into high gear when voters approved “FastTracks,” a $4 billion rapid transit system. Transit Oriented Developments were built at rail stations along the rapid transit system near downtown and in the suburbs. Then the subprime mortgage crisis hit the ‘burbs and now the price of a gallon of gas has reached $4.00.

In the suburbs east of Denver, housing hit the skids. Foreclosures abound, platted and vacant lots are selling at 50% discount. But all is not dead in the suburbs.

Sustainable and walkable
In an effort to buck the trend of urban infill, Century Communities is building “Hometown,” a sustainable, mixed-use walkable community in Arvada, a suburban community northwest of Denver. This development includes townhomes, three-plex mansion homes, condominiums, assisted-living and a neighborhood-retail center. Most internal roads are designed as walkable streets with tree lawns and detached walks on both sides. These walkable streets provide access to future restaurants and neighborhood shops within a quarter-mile radius of all homes. The various homes are mixed and carefully sited to avoid the monotony of having separate uses in isolated pods, creating a look and feel of lower density with an average residential yield of 11 units per acre.

Paramount North by the Brighton Corporation in Meridian, Idaho, a suburb of Boise, is another example of how sustainable walkable communities can be considered in a suburban location. The proposed development will appeal to empty nesters and baby boomers who desire to live in a low-maintenance, active-adult neighborhood. Most of these buyers will trade in their single-family, car-dependent lifestyle for cluster homes, patio homes, paired villas, mansion homes, condominiums and a wellness center. The focal point for this Walkable Village will be the proposed community center which will include an indoor pool, spa, workout studio, library, lounge, chapel, events center, post office and a country store. The center will overlook a community pool, outdoor spa, manmade lake, pavilion and recirculating streams. Paved trails will radiate from all clusters like spokes on a wheel to the central clubhouse, providing miles of pedestrian systems separated from internal roads.

It is important to note that these higher density walkable neighborhoods must be designed carefully by a team of architects, planners, landscape architects and engineers to create a village that maximizes privacy between units, provides private courtyard spaces, reduces stormwater runoff, and considers other sustainable features as encouraged by Sustainable Land Development International.
Inasmuch as the dynamics of buyer profiles have changed dramatically, a mixed-use village may appeal to diverse lifestyles. The compact Walkable Village design can reduce development costs per unit, provide pedestrian access to neighborhood shops and provide affordable low maintenance homes, condos, and apartments in a neighborhood that reduces the expensive auto-dependent lifestyle.

A mix of price ranges and unit types can increase absorption, create more value and increase the bottom line for developers who will respond to the changes that are shaping how we will live in the next 25 years.

It is interesting to note, based on some of the factors discussed, that a large percentage of residential real estate developed between now and 2025 may be modeled after the compact villages that our forefathers built in the late 1700’s.

Remember, it’s not how dense you make it, it’s how you make it dense. SLDT