One of the components of the sustainable, traditional neighborhood is the neighborhood center.

One of the components of the sustainable, traditional neighborhood is the neighborhood center.

The neighborhood center defines a community s identity and is the place for events, leisure activities, public art, and transit. The neighborhood center adds value to the surrounding properties if designed and detailed well. In sprawl, the neighborhood center needs labeling to identify it as the center. Examples are strip malls, gas stations, and private country clubs. Sprawl centers usually are on private property and raise community concerns about congestion and location. Because of their isolated locations, they create road capacity problems. They divert resources from public facilities into the private sector.

The diagram on the left is a Clarence Perry 1929 neighborhood unit diagram. The diagram on the right is the ideal town. Each diagram identifies a center and adjacent smaller parks. Since the turn of the 20 th century, it has been well known that traditional, sustainable neighborhoods not only have a center but the center is usually where the identity and the personality of the community stem. The center is the location for civic and cultural activities and where mixed use is found.

The neighborhood edge in a rural neighborhood is defined by the countryside, waterway, or farmland.

Europeans have thousands of years of traditional compact neighborhoods, villages, and hamlets, which, among other things, preserve the rural landscapes and waterways.

Throughout the United States, as illustrated in this image from the Midwest, neighborhoods and towns are traditionally compact and stand adjacent to agricultural lands.

In more urban environments, rural landscapes, golf courses, parks, and boulevards can edge neighborhoods. These images are from Abacoa. In Washington D.C., many neighborhoods are defined by boulevards, and the intersections of boulevards hold great public spaces with public buildings.

In all environments, rural or urban, the density becomes lower at the edges. This is where the mansions or the one-to-five-acre lots are located. The lower density areas edge the countryside or face a golf course, parkway, or preserve.

This image is from Abacoa. These townhouses create a continuous urban edge that defines and distinguishes the open spaces.

In all cases, traditional neighborhoods are made up of a network of public streets so that all people may drive, walk, or use public transit to access the neighborhood.

A big problem in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties is how the urban environment faces important collector and arterial roads. The urban environment turns it backs to those streets by building walls thereby limiting access and visibility. A more defensive, isolated, and segregated environment results that in turn results in roadways that are hostile and completely auto-dominated.

Coral Gables has detailed boulevards with monuments at the intersections that become community identities and edges of neighborhoods. There are many prewar examples of dignified and beautiful ways of defining a neighborhood s edge through urban planning and architecture.

The center is the heart and soul of a neighborhood. This image on the top left is from Rhode Island. The center is immediately recognized. Public streets and roadways connect to neighborhoods surrounding it. The center holds the church. Oftentimes, a community building or facility is found at the center. Higher densities line and frame the public open space. Mixed uses are also found at the center. The image on the bottom right is Central Park as seen from outer space. The astronauts can identify Central Park. A well-designed center does not need labeling and signage to tell people where they are. People know that they are at the center.

Eyes on the street is critical in parks and centers. This concept means that people who occupy the buildings surrounding the space naturally survey and police the area. Consequently, the smaller, more traditional neighborhood centers are safer and better protected than some of the larger parks that do not have buildings surrounding them and rely entirely upon a municipal force for protection. Giving building faces and letting them face the center or park dignifies the space. It is notable to be at the center, and it is the place people want to be. It naturally becomes a place of congregation.

Roads provide public access and parking to these areas. Oftentimes, traditional neighborhood centers become so successful that people who do not have them will drive to them to be involved in an outdoor civic environment. Property values increase over time when the property faces a well-defined, well-situated and sized public open space and center. Historically, the neighborhood center has been the primary place of worship. The city hall and neighborhood commercial can also be found at the center.

This is an example of neighborhood services (nonresidential) within the neighborhood. Mixed-uses within the traditional neighborhood typically occur at or near the center and are a natural result of need and desire.

This image shows a park with a dog park. The park has become a gathering place.

Mixes of uses and higher densities have been debated within the Treasure Coast Region and throughout the nation. Mixed use does not always mean living above the store. It can mean having a neighborhood community center or, as this image shows, an art school. Centers are destinations for people to travel within the community. Mixed use is not reserved for commercial only.

Much debate has occurred about how much retail a neighborhood can support. This image from a 1942 Clarence Stein drawing demonstrates how neighborhoods become interconnected and related to one another. Primary retail areas naturally congregate at the intersection of primary streets of the neighborhoods.

Robert Gibbs of Gibbs Planning in Detroit, Michigan is one of the nation s notable retail consultants. He states that just because a neighborhood store is built does not mean there is a market for it. Mr. Gibbs determined that 750 households are needed to support a 3,000 to 5,000-square foot corner store. For a convenience center that may hold a pizza restaurant, dry cleaner, and a small amount of retail, the market calls for 15,000 to 20,000 households.

Places such as CityPlace, Mizner Park, and Restin Town Center in Washington D.C. need hundreds of thousands of households to support them.

Each of these images shows good design and beautifully detailed buildings that integrate with its neighborhood. Not all the buildings can go in every neighborhood, for each neighborhood will have its own unique character. Most importantly, not all neighborhoods can support retail. However, all neighborhoods can have mixed use that might include limited office, a community center, a school, or a church. The most important concept is that the neighborhood center must be a place of destination with a variety of opportunities.

To summarize, the image on the top left shows Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach. It defines the community s identity, and many events take place here. It has some retro public and the surrounding property values have increased dramatically. This image on the bottom is from Abacoa. The neighborhood center is well defined, is fronted by streets and buildings, has community and park uses, and is open to everyone.