(this article is borrowed from the TNDHomes. com site http://www.tnd.org/phd01.html with permission)
In progress, to read the full article go to TNDHomes link above (worth a look in any case).
Design Principles for Neighborhoods and Towns By Geoffrey Ferrell, with Marcela Camblor and David Goodman
Haile Village Center in Gainesville, Florida. Photo by Robert Kramer.
If we are to return successfully to a settlement pattern of neighborhoods in towns, cities and villages, it will be because it offers the best choice for living. Sustainable settlement strategies that depend on nostalgia or sacrifice will fail. No choices are more fundamental than those people make about how they will live—their "lifestyle" decision. We must build the good neighborhood, one that offers all the privileges and necessities of daily life within a comfortable walking distance. This means providing the best schools, community life and private space. Advertised as "spacious suburban living," the houses in this development sit ten feet apart and the street is just a line of garage doors. The only way to tell which house is yours is by the numbers on your mailbox. Every nonresidential activity requires a drive on the six-lane road. Photo courtesy of TRW-REDI.
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The suburban development pattern is unsustainable, both technically and culturally. Technically, the government services required for suburban development (sewer, water, police, fire, streets and roadways) cost much more than the tax revenue the development generates. The time lost and environmental damage done by compulsory daily commutes is enormous. Culturally speaking, the suburban pattern segregates people, bringing them together only when they are behind the wheel of an automobile. Human culture is a product of human interaction; a society whose members' primary interaction is as competing drivers cannot remain healthy. Recognizing that current development patterns cannot be sustained, major participants in the building industry are looking to urban and town infill for future market opportunities. Neighborhoods, towns and cities work differently than do residential "communities," shopping malls and office parks. Not understanding the difference is a recipe for failure—with consequences not only for the entrepreneur, but also for the public. The most common mistake is to confuse surface appearance (picket fences and traditional architecture) with fundamental principles. Authentic neighborhoods and towns have an integration and balance of uses, public/private synergy, streets as an amenity, and front porches, which encourage "eyes on the street." Many developments claim to be a "hometown" by recreating the look of pre-World War II houses, yet retain the suburban framework of gated entries, rear-view lots, and segregated-use zoning on cul-de-sac roads, disconnected from the surrounding town. These are designed for how they look rather than how they live. True towns, villages and cities are fundamental human creations that balance things public with things private. In a healthy town or city, public and private elements work together, with synergy, to produce a good quality of life. Where either the public (community) aspect or the private (individual) aspect is sacrificed, quality of life suffers. Good urbanism is not about superficial style, but about pragmatic function. Don't confuse superficial appearance with fundamental principles. While some of the functional elements of good towns and cities (front porches, for example) tend toward a "traditional" appearance, it is how they shape our daily lives that makes them important. Good neighborhoods and towns are based on fundamental principles: on how they live—not how they look. In the Florida panhandle, there are numerous imitation Seaside developments with picket fences and Cracker-Victorian-trimmed houses incongruously perched on stilts. A walk through Seaside puts you in contact with people—in the streets, in shops and on their front porches. In contrast, a walk down the cul-de-sac "streets" of the imitation Seasides showcases pipes snaking out of the bottoms of houses. While these developments might sell in the frenzied market that Seaside triggered, their visitors will not return home with tales of wonderful strolls through the streets at dusk or of how, for the first time, their child could go to the store unescorted. Many developments were begun with the intention of building a good traditional neighborhood—but were sidetracked along the way by zoning ordinances, lending institutions, traffic engineering standards and industry habits stuck in the conventions of old suburban development patterns. We are seeing a shift in the thinking of the government, financial and development institutions; many are coming to look very favorably on new urban neighborhood development. A more difficult problem is the common misconception of what new-traditional and new-urban development is really about. This article will explain and illustrate the fundamental principles of making true neighborhoods and towns, in a manner that is useful to developers, builders, designers and policy makers. Fundamental principles for private buildings
Fairview Village, Oregon. Photo by Jason Miller.
Buildings are aligned and close to the street. Buildings form the space of the street. Buildings form and protect private open space. Whether a yard, garden or courtyard, private open space is an important complement to the public space of the neighborhood. Buildings have front porches or balconies. This overview of the street contributes to healthful streets and safe neighborhoods, while serving as a buffer between the house interior and street activity. Buildings are designed for towns. Rather than being simply pushed closer together, as in many suburban developments, buildings must be designed for the close siting of towns and cities. Views are directed to the street and the backyard, not toward the neighbors. Property lines are physically defined by fences, hedges or garden walls. Land should be clearly public or private—in public view for surveillance or private and protected. Vehicle storage, garbage and mechanical equipment is away from the street. Access to garages should be from the alley. Where garages must be front-loaded, they should be set at least 20 feet behind the front plane of the house.
A side yard patio in Harbor Town, Tennessee. Photo by Jason Miller.
Photo by Suzanne Askew.
Architecture responds to regional climate. In south Florida, buildings have deep overhanging eaves to shed the heat of the Florida sun, and are thin to allow for cross-ventilation and natural light. Florida's climate is temperate to subtropical—problematic for house designs that ignore it, wonderful if the design accommodates it. Rural houses have windows facing in all directions, appropriate to their place in the open countryside. Suburban conditions exist where rural houses are simply pushed close together—resulting in inappropriate views from the private rooms of adjacent houses into one another. Urban buildings direct views into the street or into their own lot—not into neighboring lots and houses. Fundamental principles for private buildings: The importance of facing the street
Suburban siting: Shun the street; look the other way. No people live here—just cars. Front-loaded garages on small lots leave house fronts blank, uninviting and without the natural safety provided by "eyes on the street." Photo by Kristen Paulsen/Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council.
The development industry has come to depend on the "rear-view" house and lot arrangement. Rear-view houses face away from the street, overlooking a view (usually a golf course, lake or wetland preserve). The street side—usually considered the "face" of the house—is left with only the garage door and other utility rooms. Landscaping is then applied to soften its looks. As cheap land rapidly disappears, developers are building on smaller lots, often without significant views. The old approach, however, is disastrous when applied to small lots or in-town locations. With the garage taking over the front of the house, only the rear and sides are available for light and views. Side setbacks are often so tight (as little as ten feet) that side rooms of adjacent houses are left facing each other. So, while residents are cut off from the street and the neighborhood, they have an uncomfortably intimate relationship with the neighbors next door. With most of the yard space rendered unusable, this sort of development can only afford privacy behind drawn curtains. This type of street is ideally suited for crime because it does not allow for surveillance from the houses. In an industry where curb appeal is so important, the shortcomings of a streetscape that is little more than a phalanx of garage doors are obvious.
Urban siting: Houses with raised porches face the street, creating a street for people—a neighborhood street. Cars are part of daily life, but they do not dominate it. Garages, basketball hoops and garbage are accommodated in the alley. This is Kentlands, Maryland. Photo by Jason Miller. Houses that face the street have advantages over those that do not. Front porches are effective filters between the public activity of the street and the private interior life. Front porches are an appropriate location to receive friends or strangers, and are excellent vantage points to participate in the life of the street. The usable space of a house with a front of rooms and a porch is much greater than a house with a garage door.
If "form follows function" is a virtue, then the raised front porch is a paragon: a perfect filter between street and house, facilitator of "eyes on the street" and a thoroughly pleasant place to sit. Photo by Geoffrey Ferrell.
It is important that porches overlook the street and not vice versa. Front porches should be raised at least 30 inches above the sidewalk. The closer the house sits to the street, the more important the extra elevation difference is. Porches set back beyond 15 feet can be as low as 18 inches and be acceptable. However, this setback erodes the feeling of street space. Inside, urban floor plans take advantage of street views for daytime rooms, and rear space for more private rooms and activities.
By limiting the windows on one side of a house, a comfortable level of privacy with the neighbors is maintained—even at urban densities. Drawing ©1997 Armando Montero/Geoffrey Ferrell and Suzanne Askew-Urban Design and Landscape Architecture.
Fundamental principles for private buildings: The importance of private open space Private open space (generally a backyard) is as important to sustainable town design as the public space of streets and squares. The two aspects of town living—public and private—balance and complement one another. While there will always be a market for housing units with no outdoor privacy amenity, it will be a small and transient one. New "traditional" developments that do not address privacy fail at a basic level. If new urban development is to capture the majority market, it must offer a whole and balanced quality of life. Most suburbs do a poor job of providing private space. Inside with the curtains drawn is the only escape from the scrutiny of neighbors. The clumsy relationship between neighbors in the neither public nor private suburban yard is evidenced by the rise of the intrusive regulations of "private communities" that seek to control everything from how often you mow your yard to what color laundry you may hang on your clothesline. New-urban development can, with a little forethought, offer better private space than the suburban competition.
A lesson from the tradition of Charleston, South Carolina, is useful here. The Charleston single-house, which is set "sideways to the street" in series, puts one side of the house broad against the neighbor's property line (generally to the north). The tradition of north-side manners limits windows on this side to those necessary for light. The northern neighbor then retains the privacy of his/her side yard. Set in series (one side open, the other closed) these houses are able to open fully toward their side-yard gardens. Drawing ©1991 Richard Jensen.
The overcrowding caused by the industrial revolution effectively eliminated private open space in the traditional city (the original mid-block gardens and courts). The poor quality of life in the post-industrial-revolution city (overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, pollution, crime) was a fundamental factor in the flight to the suburbs.
In multi-unit buildings, private open space takes the form of a common yard or courtyard. The space could be formal, such as the example above, or a simple lawn or garden. What is important is the sense of enclosure, and the windows and doors that open to it. This type of private open space is particularly well suited to the South Florida climate. Photo by Geoffrey Ferrell.
Private open space is not a luxury that can be dismissed at the urban densities of towns and cities. Without it, in-town living means crowded living. The specific character of private open space changes with lot size and density. The yard of a house on a large lot becomes the rear yard of a cottage, that in turn becomes the courtyard of a rowhouse. With the shift to apartment buildings, the yard shifts to a shared space, held in common by the tenants, as in a courtyard apartment building. Note that higher-quality apartments are characterized by private balconies and terraces. Healthy towns and neighborhoods foster community through their neighborhood scale; mixed-use design; narrow, pedestrian-friendly streets; and houses with front porches, while providing for a comfortable private realm (pleasant backyards with a high level of privacy through careful building placement standards).
Without private open space, in-town living means crowded living. Floor plans that don't consider the presence of adjacent buildings turn open yard areas into little-used no-man's-lands. Here, windows look directly into the neighbors' houses and yards. Graphic courtesy of Looney Ricks Kiss Architects, Inc.
Conventional zoning regulations, with front, side and rear setbacks, force inefficient lot use. Windows are directed at the windows of the adjacent neighbor. Except on large lots, little usable yard space and little privacy is the result. Urban siting has front and side "build-to's," a more efficient use of the lot (allowing a very livable house on a small lot) and a high degree of privacy. Windows look into the street or into their own lot—not into the neighboring lot.
In-town dwellings must provide comfortable private open space (yard) and contribute to creating the public space of the street. These yards are not under scrutiny of the neighbors or from the street. This privacy allows the house to open to its gardens. Private life balances public life. Drawing ©1998 Armando Montero/Geoffrey Ferrell and Suzanne Askew/Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council.