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It wasn't an accident. It's urban design from a very specific period of time, which had a very specific method for creating spatial design and connections. The communities built during the period of the Walking City and the Streetcar or Transit City--and most of the neighborhoods you mention were built during the streetcar city era (1890-1920)--had a very particular kind of setup, focused on a grid, walkability, connection to transit, and "mixed use" (retail and civic uses) at the center of the community, within walking distance.

The issue now of course is that for other reasons including the cost of construction, cost of land, and general demand, it is very difficult to build communities like that in a manner that is affordable. It's why for the most part, new communities can be constructed like this only with multiunit housing, or very expensive single family (or 2 over 2) housing. Generally, the land becomes available far from the center city (i.e., Clarksburg), where the distance from the center city cancels out the kind of network benefits typical of the neighborhoods you mention.

by Richard Layman on Dec 29, 2009 3:29 pm • link • report

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