Community
Selling people on something novel is successful only when the novelty really matters to them. To a growing homebuyer market segment, what really matters is a sense of community. For this group, belonging to an authentic neighborhood, where daily activities and frequently visited places are within easy walking distance of home, is a core human value. These families like to meet their friends and neighbors as often as possible. They are pioneers among today’s homebuyers, much like the pioneers who once built the towns and cities we have come to love. TND meets their needs.

Three TND types
Traditional urban form can be described in three ways: redevelopment, infill and greenfield. These categories not only suggest certain target homebuyer markets, but also particular urban building types, open spaces and phasing techniques.

Redevelopment neighborhoods: Replacing blight
Inner-city redevelopment rebuilds blighted sites, and replaces under-utilized buildings with new ones, in declining neighborhoods for existing and new residents and businesses. There is often little opportunity to build on scattered lots in urban areas of disinvestment without subsidies, because new construction value tends to exceed the market value of comparable neighboring units. Redevelopment typically involves the demolition of dilapidated housing stock on several contiguous lots or blocks, and creates opportunities for new building sites and safe, attractive public spaces. In a number of cities, redevelopment includes building on sites once were occupied by industrial uses, and are now being cleaned for new development opportunities. New construction usually includes a variety of higher-density single-family, multi-family and attached building types to meet a range of homebuyer needs. Many of these should be available first to those residents and business owners being displaced before attracting a new population, for they form the foundation and a unique local community heritage that are a basis for a new urban identity.
Redevelopment of entire blocks close to commercial and employment districts will most likely attract people with a strong desire to work, shop and relax in an urban village, one of many that surround a central business district. These neighborhoods are often close to many cultural and governmental facilities of the region as well, providing another assortment of civic amenities.
The redevelopment strategy for projects in declining neighborhoods has to provide for both a profit for those building them and a tax base for their maintenance if they are to become assets of the city again. It must also inspire a sense of place and community so that people chose to call it their own, and participate constructively in its evolution. One of the distinct advantages of building in redevelopment areas is that the investment required to design within the existing urban context can be balanced by the in-place benefits of an existing infrastructure and platting pattern, and low acquisition costs. From a market perspective, extension of a mature neighborhood with stable or escalating real estate values is a sensible place to start phasing block-by-block contiguous redevelopment.

Infill neighborhoods: Building on existing strengths
Infill neighborhoods are typically stable communities, that for one reason or another, all development parcels were never fully built out, or where demolition of older buildings has left vacant lots or unplatted parcels. These neighborhoods typically have an established infrastructure and housing stock that is holding its real estate value. Infill neighborhoods already have a variety of housing choices, a traditional public realm, transit access and commercial amenities within walking distance of each other. In these areas, improvement and enhancement on a lot-by-lot basis are preferable to existing residents. Building in existing neighborhoods will most likely yield cost-effective, profitable results, but only if the existing community character and population is respected.
The people who have invested time and money in their houses and businesses within the neighborhood are the framework upon which an evolving community should build. Therefore, the marketing strategy for each new building should be to attract first existing residents into move-up housing, friends of existing residents, and people familiar with the neighborhood, and then to attract those in the open market. The more the local community remains in life-cycle housing choices, the better opportunities for higher long-term real estate value.

Greenfield neighborhoods: New construction on undeveloped land
Neighborhoods that are an extension of an existing village, town or city are typically built on land previously used for agriculture. There has usually been no planning of below-ground infrastructure, let alone the orchestration of buildings, open space and civic structures that comprise an authentic neighborhood. Everything must be designed from scratch. In this way, all new construction in a greenfield TND pattern competes directly with new conventional suburban development.
The marketing advantage of TND patterns is that, in addition to housing choices with modern household amenities, they offer a sense of place and community that conventional patterns are unable to deliver. This allows TNDs to attract a broad market, including families with children, single adults, single parents and empty-nesters. A key reason why people buy in a new TND is because the neighborhood's diversity and continuity are preferable to the single-focus nature of conventional suburban choices. TND also attracts those who choose to use their cars less, who want to live closer to where they work, and can be within walking distance of neighborhood greens, parks and open spaces.

Working relationships
Getting under way with any of these three TND types is to establish working relationships between both public and private sectors. At this point in TND development, it is necessary for the two sectors to share risks and costs. Both have a lot to gain, but both have a lot to learn as well. According to the developers we interviewed, the keys to success are in laying out all the options for a specific location in an interactive, person-to-person forum, considering every reasonable solution, and being flexible without compromising the fundamental principles that will ultimately give the homebuyer an authentic sense of community. These keys allow both local government and the development community to learn how to deliver a better place and better-fitting building product with each increment of development.

Building constraints
All three TND types—redevelopment, infill and greenfield—have several things in common. Most importantly, they all have a clear sense of community supported by a public realm that allows for walking, ties the neighborhood together and offers comfortable places for people to meet one another. But all three also share many constraints to successful development.
The developers we interviewed said that perhaps the most significant constraint is the amount of time and energy required to get a new neighborhood and its building products to market. In delivering conventional suburban development, all the approval systems are set in place. Even in many inner cities, development codes are oriented around more suburban street standards, densities and housing types. When a developer applies for development approvals, infrastructure improvements, financing, marketing or building permits under these conventional systems, the procedures are relatively smooth and predictable.
When the developer submits a TND for approval, however, the whole system balks. Suburban procedures, even under more lenient planned unit development (PUD) applications, are often cumbersome, if not completely overwhelming. When the question, “What is holding you back from trying, let alone completing, a TND?” is posed to developers, most respond by saying, “Where I am working, that development pattern is not permitted.” In order to overcome the vast range of obstacles to changing the status quo, the rewards have to be much higher than those with which they are familiar. Given the risk, time and training necessary to get past these obstacles, the path of least resistance is often to continue with conventional patterns.
In fact, in established, stable neighborhoods, and especially in greenfield sites, government approvals of TND projects can get particularly problematic. These areas often have comprehensive plans and zoning codes based on segregated land uses and single-use development patterns. The challenge of integrating land uses, either by infill or by building all new neighborhoods, becomes a significant obstacle to even progressive developers.
A typical example of local regulations that eliminate opportunities for pedestrian-scaled neighborhood centers is conventional parking ratios. A ratio of five off-street spaces for every 1,000 square feet of retail space means there will be at least 50 percent more parking lot than building floorplate in commercial locations. These regulations may be necessary in automobile-oriented locations, but they are not appropriate in TNDs.
The good news is that a broader range of local acceptance among governing jurisdictions is evolving. On the more progressive side, every mayor would love to have the development community come in, invest its money and voluntarily take the risk to redevelop blighted or struggling neighborhoods as TNDs. But local planning authorities also know that developers will go where the risks are minimal and the opportunity for reward is great. In response, many municipalities are putting TND-friendly codes in place to facilitate swift approvals for sustainable development patterns. This is an excellent least-cost measure for local government.
However, swift approvals may not be enough. Many municipalities are instituting persuasive incentives to demonstrate a commitment to work with TND developers. In this way, both parties are able to move into a proactive planning posture, share the risks and ultimately benefit from the rewards of their efforts.

Reactive planning
Typically, governing jurisdictions are reactive, not proactive. Many developers complain that their project concept plan is presented to the community and revised again and again, at their own time and expense, until the community as a whole reacts positively. Fundamental judging criteria is the project’s compatibility toward local urban development policies, whatever they may be.
Perhaps the harshest and most adversarial forum for this process is the public hearing. Particularly for local citizens who are able to respond to a proposed development for the first time, some pretty hefty verbal assaults can be launched against any proposed development—TND or conventional. Especially if well-versed in decisions that have visibly deteriorated the community’s environment in the name of growth, a local government may have little bargaining power in a public hearing forum to promote any development pattern presented.
But, as much as there may be a desire to promote a TND pattern, many governing jurisdictions, particularly those for greenfield sites, are afraid to move into a different planning process, modify their existing zoning framework, or create parallel systems for two very good reasons. First, suburban development regulations have delivered, for better or worse, perceptibly steady economic growth for years. Second, and perhaps more importantly, where TND patterns are preferred, local jurisdictions do not know how to go about asking the development community to deliver them.
If there is a genuine desire for TND development patterns because the local government understands their value to economic and community development, then the local government must articulate clearly how these patterns might appear and function. This requires a deliberate investment in proactive planning for a desired outcome rather than against an unwanted outcome.

Proactive planning: Overcoming constraints
There are two specific means by which local government can become more proactive in their planning and development practices. First, they can illustrate their codes. Second, they can engage the citizens in the planning of their own community’s evolution.
In redevelopment, infill and greenfield jurisdictions, comprehensive plans often refer to the creation of “mixed-use” and “pedestrian-friendly” environments as desirable. But there are rarely graphic models or references of how these places would look, let alone how one would go about building them or even generating civic support for the construction of them. Graphic descriptions of a preferred development pattern have the power to educate potential developers and builders about the environment desired, as well providing specific standards by which development proposals can be evaluated. The characteristics on which these standards are based is best formed by community workshops and design charrettes.
Regardless of redevelopment, infill or greenfield TND sites, a community participation planning process is essential to build consensus around the type and design of new construction. A meaningful, interactive learning event, where the local government and potential development entities listen to the values of the local community, and then teaches them how those values may be translated into physical design alternatives, ensures a more successful outcome than either side imagining a probable outcome in isolation.
In a way, a citizen-based planning process performs valuable preliminary market research as well. It establishes specific needs that would complete the neighborhood, a constituency to support public improvements and private development to satisfy those needs, and the first market to take advantage of new construction and neighborhood business opportunities. Citizens are customers too.

New thinking among developers
It would be unfair to place the bulk of responsibility for building neighborhoods on the shoulders of the public sector. In addition to selling building products, a builder and developer has to understand one set of mechanisms for building complete, connected neighborhoods and a different set of mechanisms for selling them. It requires a fundamental change of thinking from conventional suburban development. In recent years, many promising initiatives have been generated by pioneering developers thinking creatively within their disciplines and collaborating with others thinking creatively within their disciplines. Through deliberate actions, these pioneers have provided models worth emulating. Each new or redeveloping neighborhood has its own unique identity to achieve, but the fundamental principles of TND are prominent and consistent among them.
For example, the new Florida towns of Celebration and Abacoa, as well as redevelopment initiatives in Winter Park and Hobe Sound, have been developer-driven. These developers have sought working relationships with local jurisdictions on a variety of levels in order to complete community-based TNDs. Although development practice and building technology have modernized in many ways, these places are recapturing a sense of community reminiscent of the historic towns we remember and cherish.

Offering a clear vision
Developers working in a TND pattern have to make their physical plan clear before governing officials will consider altering established regulations. Meeting up front with the fire chief, police chief, public works director and planning director, as well as elected officials, to work through potential obstacles is important for TND projects to move ahead and not get bogged down in costly delays. Clearly defining from the outset the benefits of easier emergency access, better community surveillance, reduced infrastructure expense and environmental preservation takes time. The thought, learning, teaching, commitment and patience required is not typical of building in a conventional format. But the more time and energy spent up front, the more added market value and faster absorption will result, because the potential homeowner or business owner will have confidence that the new or improved neighborhood will appear and function as an authentic TND.

Building a place for community
For the developers we interviewed, along with a substantial profit margin, the most significant reward in building a TND is the pride associated with creating an attractive, healthy community. Places where people enjoy living, working, shopping and spending leisure time are places local governments and developers are proud to say they had a contributing role in building. But, they also have economic value based on the quality of life they generate. Planned neighborhoods, whether redeveloped, infill or newly built, have a timeless value when there is a deliberate effort toward place-making. Precedents can be found everywhere in mature neighborhoods and towns where pride of place and real estate value have been retained because the community cared enough to make it so. These are models from which new construction may take its cue.

Example: Stuart, Florida
A classic example of redevelopment that has enhanced real estate value in surrounding neighborhoods is downtown Stuart, Florida. Formerly in economic decline and physical neglect, downtown Stuart is now a place that is known for its parking problem on evenings and weekends! The area is currently attempting to diversify its retail mix so that downtown can also meet the daily needs of neighborhood residents within walking distance.
Downtown Stuart has become the jewel of Martin County. Surrounding neighborhoods have realized an increased interest in both redevelopment of existing properties and underutilized lots. Historic neighborhood buildings have been renovated and adapted for new uses, and along with new buildings respectful of the historic district, continue to evoke Stuart’s unique heritage and memorable character.
Stuart's redevelopment is a model that other communities can emulate. The pride of accomplishment that exists today began with a community-wide planning forum and now continues with builders taking on new construction projects consistent with that community-based plan. It is a model of what is possible because as one of our interviewees said, it started with a question: “What can we build that has a very good chance of being here and inherently valuable 100 years from now?”

Benefit to local government
For local government, TND development can bring higher real estate values and tax base durability. Redevelopment and infill development in traditionally urban areas, where infrastructure is already in place, can bring in new jobs and new residents, and improves opportunities for local economic viability. Rebuilding and enhancing existing traditional urban patterns saves costly infrastructure investments into outlying areas, keeps local investment in existing neighborhoods and creates stronger life-cycle housing opportunities.
Another benefit is that city officials have more satisfied constituents. When residents and business owners feel as though they belong to a place and can shape its evolution, they are more likely to act in a way that benefits the community as a whole. Joe Barnes of the Celebration Company describes this as “emotional equity.” It is an inherent value of the place where people live and work. Although less tangible than construction costs, emotional equity is a significant component of real estate value.

Benefit to local developer
For the local developer, there is an opportunity to capitalize on a market segment hungry for a greater sense of community. According to the 1996 American Lives survey, one-quarter to one-half of the American population is receptive to TND-type infill, adaptive reuse and new construction, and are particularly fond of the sense of community it offers (see sidebar). Such potential customers appreciate human scale and sense of place enough to pay extra for it. For example, real estate appreciation rates in many mature traditional neighborhoods are now higher than in newer suburban subdivisions, despite the repair and maintenance bills of older buildings, higher property taxes, and sometimes unpredictable city schools and services.
The population that values these neighborhoods and would prefer to live in new construction with fresh household amenities is, for the most part, not being served by the home-building industry today. The TND Series provides a valuable tool for changing this dilemma.

Approaches to Traditional Neighborhood Development
A few fundamental strategies are worth mentioning with regard to the way public and private sectors may coordinate neighborhood building efforts.

Redevelopment: Infrastructure and scale
In the case of redevelopment neighborhoods, there is typically significant infrastructure already in place. Building in these areas capitalizes on the considerable investment in roads, sewers, water and public services that already exist. Working with the governing jurisdiction to determine how infrastructure improvements may be coordinated with ongoing capital improvement programs, including both above- and below-ground infrastructure, can also give the developer additional financial leverage for larger area construction programs.
An appropriate scale of execution and project phasing is another critical factor in making TND patterns possible in redevelopment neighborhoods. Volunteer organizations generate a great deal of community pride when they build individual houses, but the task of neighborhood rebuilding has to occur at an economy of scale larger than individual buildings. To spark community-wide economic revitalization, offer an economic return for the development entities and create a place citizens want to stay and invest their time and money, a broader redevelopment strategy is necessary.

Infill: Existing community assets
In stable neighborhoods requiring minimal revitalization, significant infrastructure already exists. In addition, there is economic benefit to using existing community structures as a foundation for further development. Understanding the community’s urban and architectural assets and building within them is crucial to individual, scattered-lot development success. Opportunities on a variety of scales within infill communities include incremental infill buildings to construction of new neighborhoods on adjacent greenfield sites.

Greenfield: Design from scratch
New neighborhoods on undeveloped greenfield sites require new infrastructure and create the opportunity for a new community. Here, the per-parcel, above-ground infrastructure costs of creating the public realm amenities—sidewalks, street trees and civic structures—are offset by the reduced below-ground infrastructure costs possible with narrower lots and compact neighborhood development.
Coupled with the time and energy required to get the initial development models built, some of the interviewed developers said the jury is still out as to whether above- and below-ground costs will eventually balance out for new neighborhoods. The testing is occurring in pioneering projects like Celebration and Abacoa. However, these and other projects have already demonstrated that once they are ready for sale, there is no shortage of interested buyers, and they command price premiums above those of surrounding conventional developments.

Getting under way
So, how does the development community apply TND principles and make a profit? Perhaps the most important strategy is learning how to do it well. This takes continual education about TND techniques and how to apply them under different conditions. An excellent place to start is visiting with others who are working with TND projects, walking through these neighborhoods and observing the way each component contributes to an overall sense of place, and participating in organizations that promote the values, techniques and promises of this not-so-new way of community-building. The more that new and regenerating neighborhoods reflect community values in built form, the better they will be received by the market.

Marketing versus design
In applying TND principles, the distinction between marketing strategy and delivery of the built neighborhood is critical. When walking traditional neighborhoods, most people do not notice the small curb radii, wide sidewalks, pocket parks, porch details, vertical window proportions and other design elements that go into making places they love. However, they know them when they see them. They sense when the pieces come together to complete a high-quality neighborhood. Once again, the high real estate values in established, well-maintained neighborhoods demonstrate the value of good design.
Consequently, several of the interviewed developers spoke of a marketing strategy that lets home buyers visualize themselves walking through the neighborhood and feeling the quality of life the community offers will be much more persuasive than describing planning principles that guide the neighborhood’s design. The first phase of construction should be to complete a single street, with landscaping and buildings on both sides, for at least one block. By walking this short but complete segment of the community’s public realm, potential home buyers can get a clear idea of how further construction will complete the neighborhood and form community connections. Including a central green space in the first phase also helps to demonstrate the developer’s commitment to the public realm as the neighborhood’s principal amenity. The potential new neighborhood resident then chooses to live there based on the amenities of the neighborhood, as well as the amenities of the individual home.