Creating The Perfect Town

New Urbanism And Ready-Made Communities Are Growing In Popularity

(CBS)  The story was originally broadcast on May 20, 2007.

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At first glance, Kentlands, Md. looks like a snapshot of an old-fashioned city or small town neighborhood: a mix of houses, schools, shops and cafes, all within an easy stroll.

Just like the old days, some of those neighbors even reside above the store.

But this town is not an old established area. Twenty years ago, none of it was here.

Kentlands is a town built from scratch, according to town architect Mike Watkins.

"The main street's the heart of the community. It's where neighbors hang out," he told Sunday Morning correspondent Rita Braver. "Kentlands is 352 acres, 2200 residential units, about a third multi-family, a third townhouses and a third singles in rough numbers."

There are rental apartments, too, and lots of shared green space. The governing principal is simple.

"Many of us prefer walking to driving, so it was deliberately designed as a place as a counterpoint to that — to offer an alternative to driving absolutely everywhere," Watkins said.

In fact, Kentlands is just one example of a movement that's been dubbed "new urbanism."

"Well, essentially the suburbs have crashed," said Andres Duany, who with his wife, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, is leading the new urban movement. "The promise of suburban living was not fulfilled. You don't get nature, you get a little lawn. You don't get the freedom to drive everywhere, you get traffic congestion."

Duany and Plater-Zyberk run the firm, DPZ, which is based in Miami.

"We take these things that developers that are doing usually badly in a sprawling way, and we assemble them into towns," Duany said.

They have designed several hundred new communities all over the world. The most famous is Florida's Seaside — a town so seemingly perfect, it was the backdrop for "The Truman Show," a movie about a man who lived his life on the set of a TV show. But Seaside is a real accomplishment. Time magazine called it "the most astounding design achievement of its era."

"I think they're part of a utopian dream which has long been part of life in the United States," Plater-Zyberk said.

Americans have been pursuing perfection for generations. In the 18th and 19th centuries there were many religious and spiritual utopian communities, including the Amana Colonies in Iowa and Shaker villages in New York and elsewhere. Even the first suburbs were part of the search for utopia, an attempt to flee the grit of some big cities.

"The center of the city was getting almost unlivable," architect Witold Rbycyznski said. "You have factories and manufacturing, all this dirty stuff next to people's houses. And so the wealthiest people started moving out to the edges."

[jarryr]

I was disappointed with your reporting this story. I have always thought of your show as different in that you take time to explain the issue without sensationalism, not in this case. You went solely for the sensation without taking a moment to explain what made the planned communities like seaside different. Shame on you! Are you falling into the sound bite world too???

[kp74]

As someone who lives in a small town. It's the community that creates it. NOT a few architect trying to make a fanatsy world. It doesn't worl that way. BTW NO town is "perfect".

[newsfan13]

I agree with the disappointment expressed by the previous poster. While I found the introduction to the story to be intriguing, I was left waiting for the story to happen. All I kept hearing was that these communities were different, innovative, and the source of controversy between supporters and detractors. But I never learned why. I found the whole piece to be much like those annoying entertainment news shows and I was left asking the question, "so, what is your point?%u201D

[vaughanjf]

Part of how the story was told is in the pictures. You may have noticed that the houses were all different, instead of your traditional cookie cutter suburbia. You should also noticed the garage was not part of the front of the homes, but instead a porch was present. Maybe they should have mentioned this in more detail, but some other features were focused on. For example the desire to have a more navigatible community made possible with sidewalks instead of cars. Also, it was presented that there were single family homes, town homes and rentals all in the same area. The homes didn't appear very far apart and didn't have large yards. Instead of mentioning those qualities, she emphasized the shared spaces or examples of mixed use residential and commercial buildings. While more time could have been spent on the subject, part of the beauty of TV is not having to say everything.

[roykelley]

As a Kentlands home owner for many years, I was pleased to see the area in the news. It really is a nice community for those that appreciate the design. It is a pretty area and the sidewalks make walking a pleasure. One of the best things that I do every morning is to walk through Kentlands and the neighboring community of Lakelands. Yes, many restaurants and shopping including Whole Foods are within walking distance for the residents. However, most of the residents still drive to their destinations.

The small lots and white picket fences attract tours of community designers and architects. The garages that face alleys and trash collection in the alleys rather than in the front of the homes help create a positive visual image. The strict architectural controls do test the patience of many owners. Permission is needed if one wishes to add a storm door or change any colors. All of the required fences must be painted white. Kentlands continues to be one of the most popular communities in Gaithersburg, MD.

[westhaven4]

I live in a sterling example of a "New Urbanism" community called Westhaven in Franklin, TN just south of Nashville. Our "hometown" is four years young and just 30% complete, but I must say the virtue of civil neighborliness and the overall fellowship experience are in abundance here already. Further, the psychological, sociological and physiological benefits of living in such a place, as they pertain to human development, are nurtured through the presence of greater freedoms and opportunities than that of a typical conventional suburban development. Our annual Memorial Day Block Party will be attended by over 1000 people this weekend with smoked pulled pork barbeque and great covered dish food, live music performed by our neighbors (Nashville is Music City, USA afterall!), games for all ages and a sense of good ol' genuine, wholesome, down-to-earth friendliness that made America the best place to live on earth. We celebrate this day and honor the lives that were lost to defend our way of life. Our residents are teeming with authentic Main Street mentalities. We're not a phony, contrived land of make believe "town". This is real--as real as it gets these days in America. And its real good!

[dmsalazar2]

As a baby boomer, I found myself thinking that this might be a nice fit for my later years. We have Del Webb communities in California but they don't appeal to me. I think a Kentlands-type of planned community appears to be a nice cross between suburbia and city-living. Shopping, a movie theatre, etc., within walking distance would be fantastic. I value a diverse community (in ALL ways), including varied age groups.

[hh0404]

Kentlands was not the first. A little bit of research would have told you that the Disney company build Celebration in the 90's. That was the model for all the other cities that followed. And they are as boring as Celebration with that fake atmosphere.

I have to comment to the remarks made by the person who responded to the criticism that towns like Kentlands and Seaside are not really towns after all. He stated that indeed they are because real people who have live there have real jobs, etc. Having never been to Kentlands, I certainly can't comment, but his remarks as it concerns Seaside are laughable. He certainly proved that he has never spent any reasonable amount of time there. Seaside is a coastal resort community consisting mainly of vacation homes. These are million-dollar "second" homes owned mostly by the gentile Southern wealthy out of Birmingham, Nashville and Atlanta. The only people who work near Seaside are the service-class people who support the vacationers who either visit or rent those homes during the season. That area in Northwest Florida is growing, but other than a military presence, retired or otherwise, the service industry is still the most prominent and, of course, pays the worst. There is no sustainable industry there to support the lifestyle contained within Seasise itself.

[thgdriver]

So whats the name of the town? At the picture it's called Kentwoods Md. and in the story it's Kentlands Md.

[jeorman8]

Good community planning facilitates social networks creating community. I also live in Westhaven,located in Franklin Tennessee. Celebration or Seaside are easy to bash because of the hype fomented by the new urbanist movement. They simply expected too much from these communities. Duany also assisted in planning Westhaven. His contributions extended beyond his lofty new urbanism ideas; helping the SLC town planners with hundreds of details that make Westhaven a better place to live. Frankly, few developers have the staying power to fully implement these details like Southern Land Company has. (See www.westhaventn.com to see what I mean.)
We residents had significant input from the beginning, and still do. Southern Land Company looked to residents to define the culture and they rose to the challenge, helping create a great place. The activities staff focused on connecting people and let the residents create a small town of their own vision. Not Orwellian or fantastic.
Matthew Magallanes of Southern Land Company once told me he didn't much care for the contrived image of new urbanism in spite of Westhaven%u2019s success saying, "TND design is not new, it is old. All my favorite neighborhoods are old TND sections of small towns and big cities all across America. We put a modern spin on an old idea to drive what I prefer to call new small townism, not new urbanism.%u201D Adding, %u201CYou can't create urban in Suburbia, but you can create a small town feel.%u201D