Residential Land Planners Want New Homebuyers to 'Have it All' by Dena Amoruso "Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky-tacky, little boxes just the same . . . " Baby boomers who remember those lyrics to a song popular decades ago know what their reference suggests, and no one knows it better than urban and suburban land planners and developers. Injecting imagination and creativity into neighborhood concepts has been the goal of risk-taking planners for some time. Now, new technologies can provide solutions to the ho-hum designs of residential areas through concepts like "Coving" and the "Bay Home Concept," introduced by cutting edge planners like Rick Harrison, president of Rick Harrison Site Design. His offices in Minneapolis, Dallas and Chicago plan developments to transform in-fill urban and ticky-tacky suburban areas, hopefully taking away the inspiration for songs such as these. Harrison has been planning single, multi-family and commercial sites for thirty years, and began in 1968 as a land planner at the tender age of 15 for Don Geake and Associates in Southfield, Michigan. He then studied surveying and civil engineering in order to ensure that his designs would work from the concept stage. Recognizing the weaknesses he found in the available design software when he began his studies in 1978, Harrison decided something better was needed. It was then that he developed new design software and founded a company whose product, SiteComp, is now sold to engineers and surveyors nationwide. An accomplished pilot, Harrison also enjoys filming aerial shots of developments across the country, and has received national media attention in big city newspapers such as the New York Times, and trade publications like Urban Land, Professional Surveyor, and Civil Engineering News. He was recently honored with Professional Builder Magazine's "Professional Achievement Award" for Innovation in Land Planning as well. Harrison's concepts encompass a type of high-tech planning that include a sense of community, developing land at a lower cost and creating better densities than large lot suburbia has previously offered. With so many people gravitating towards urban areas once again, how can new neighborhoods be planned with the comfort and space associated with suburbia, but not take on the gridded look of city-living? Major home developers are busy answering that call; builders such as Pulte Homes, D.R. Horton, Centex, US Homes and Ryland are building or planning neighborhoods using concepts like Harrison's. It is interesting to note that just over a decade ago, engineers typically were still manually computing coordinates and hand drawing plats and engineering drawings. A surveyor's work was mostly manual. This resulted in plans that appeared either gridded or slightly curved, making it difficult to compute and stake out developments that could lead to designs that were imaginative, yet economically feasible. They relied on architecture and landscaping to create aesthetics, instead of true planning to bring about the beauty they were aiming for. Newer designs can now permit roads to remain at widths recommended by local safety codes. The layouts can eliminate or reduce views of home sides and rears to enhance privacy and introduce park-like green spaces ("Coved" areas) where pavement might have been the traditional surface. These spaces meander to both sides of a road, making drive-bys a pleasure. Average lot sizes can be increased by 10% to 20%, and the design can minimize any noticeably repetitious patterns formed through the neighborhood. This approach turns paved areas into green spaces, producing an outstanding "landscape of art" which can be valued by the community. Accomplishing all of the above requires intense engineering and mathematic prowess once thought of as rarely or expensively obtainable, but now possible because of software advances. One neighborhood in Keller, Texas, built by Centex Homes, traditionally planned at first, was redesigned using the "Coving" concept and not only saved the developer 3,000 linear feet in street construction, but also provided larger lots when all was said and done. "Coving" can also align the fronts of homes to form gentle curves and improve and beautify the look of the neighborhood. Another new design, the Bay Home Concept, reduces paving, in some cases far beyond that possible with even a Coved development. Unlike Coving, it can substantially increase density while maintaining openness. This makes it an excellent choice for many different home markets, including the revitalization of inner city residential cores. This concept is based on detached units, but the land and all items outside the home structure are held in common ownership with a homeowners' association. The units may be staggered to produce better side and window views. The traditional detached townhome concept is customarily thought to resemble long, narrow mobile-home-like units with spacing between 20 and 30 feet apart, making them lose their single-family appearance, and lessen the "neighborhood" feeling. Bay Home neighborhoods were first conceived over twenty-five years ago, a bit ahead of their time. It was not until the baby-boom generation truly began to make its impact that the concept took off. This demographic is now known to desire single family ownership, but looks forward to eliminating the hassle of maintaining home exteriors, mowing lawns, or shoveling snow. Until now the traditional attached or closely knit townhome designs were virtually all that were being offered, making them unattractive to these accomplished yet "keep it simple" members of the newly-found "establishment." The Bay Home is a wide home (at least 35 feet wide) with generous window areas in front. The garage is rear-loaded, with its own entrance, and the front entrance opens to tremendous expanses of open space, making social interaction popular once again. With the cities and suburbs of the future concentrating their efforts on "quality of life" as their primary attraction, it's not difficult to surmise that areas emphasizing identity, good schools, security and a sense of home will be where new homebuyers will flock. With many developers and planners continuously striving to improve our overall standard of living through the well-thought-out use of land and neighborhood planning concepts, Americans pursuing their individual dreams of home ownership can look forward to a bright and exciting new millenium. These planners look for designs that reduce pavement, provide affordability, safer streets, and more evident and abundant greenery. They try to incorporate commercial spaces with careful integration and convenience to the nearby residents. And one of their primary goals is to enhance the overall streetscape, staggering and beautifying home fronts, making "little boxes all the same" an echoing memory in homebuilding history. |
