Community Concerns - Housing
Sustainable communities have a wide variety of housing types to accommodate people in different stages of life, of different incomes, and of the entire demographic spectrum. If a community has just one residential type – say, single family residences – then that community has shut out Millennials who aren’t ready to buy and baby-boomers who’ve had too many years of cleaning gutters. Making a healthy range of housing types desirable to build isn’t always easy. Neighborhoods in which developers want to build housing are amenity-rich, walkable, and full of stimulating places.
Neighborhoods - Nodes of Places
Mixed use development allows for people to access businesses, education, and recreation by walking from their house (or undergoing just a short drive) instead of being isolated with the only escape being a long car ride. See how various types of housing fill areas with different generations and types of people, as well as create thriving neighborhoods after 5:00 pm.
Neighborhoods - Gathering Places
Parks, plazas, and even great streets offer amenities to urbane people seeking more than just a home as a sleeping place. Understanding the value of well-conceived and maintained public places is critical to providing fertile ground for high-quality residential development.
Streets - Scale and Proportion
Intensity of a residential neighborhood is determined by the size of the buildings and the width of the roadway, collector strips, and sidewalks. From traditional and walkable, to urban and dense, there are different characters of residential neighborhoods with varying levels of intensity.
Buildings - Forming the Public Realm
Houses on a street corridor should work as a team to create a vibrant neighborhood to live in. The design elements such as shape and size of houses can help determine if a neighborhood has an intense or a relaxed ambiance.
Buildings - Stimulating Special Places
Residential and mixed-use neighborhoods can form unique places – like parks, cafes, and corner stores – creating a sense of value and pride in one’s neighborhood, while also offering function. These should be considered amenities that cities can provide, making its housing stock more desirable for all income levels.
Buildings - Architectural Design
Residential buildings should have windows and doors that face the street, and massing which fits into the context of their neighborhood. This doesn’t mean new architecture has to copy old architecture – in fact modern architecture can add vitality and value to a community when thoughtfully conceived.