New urbanism taking root in Henderson

Lynn Doan

Monday, July 12, 2004 | 8:22 a.m.

Henderson may be next to join a national trend toward developing pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods that emphasize the narrow streets and town centers of pre-World War II communities.

Focus Property Group executive director John Ritter, who bought 1,940 acres of Henderson land for $557 million in June, said he would like to develop communities with characteristics of new urbanism, a type of design that has become increasingly popular in the past few years.

More than 200 such communities are being developed across the country this year, he said, with about 400 existing already, including the notable towns of Stapleton, Colo., and the Florida towns of Seaside and Celebration.

"After World War II, the United States fell in love with cars and fell out of love with their neighbors and neighborhoods," Ritter said. "New urbanism is a direct response to the suburban sprawl of the post-war era."

Ritter said he was looking to develop smaller, denser neighborhoods that would be centered around parks and town centers. New urbanism also calls for a network of interconnected streets and paths that encourage walking and reduce the necessity of cars.

New urbanism, whether as newly developed communities or as renovated communities, emphasizes traditional neighborhood principles, including:

Since Wednesday, Focus developers have been meeting with city officials to discuss ideas for the new, yet old-fashioned, communities and are expected to draft a final concept, minus the details, this week, Focus spokeswoman Lynn Purdue said.

So far, city officials said they were interested in the concept of new urbanism but are waiting for more specific plans.

"The devil is in the details," said Bob Murnane, the city's Public Works director. "We don't have enough information as to how this whole project comes together to offer what impacts it will have on the rest of the community."

At this time, Purdue said Focus is still in the concept phase of the project and would not be discussing engineering details until after the final concept is drafted.

"We don't even know exactly what it is we're building yet," she said.

On the plus side, Murnane said Henderson is not completely unfamiliar with old-fashioned development, "dating back to old town center times."

Henderson's existing town center was developed during and after World War II.

Assistant City Manager Bonnie Rinaldi said she found the idea of Henderson reverting back to a traditional community very creative.

But Rinaldi is worried that, if not developed correctly, narrower streets might disrupt the city's traffic flow and make it difficult for fire trucks and ambulances to access homes in the community. There is also no way to tell how people would react to living in closer proximity to their neighbors, she said.

"Right now, we're being cautiously optimistic," Rinaldi said. "So far, it sounds doable, but we're waiting on the details."