Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) uses compact, mixed use development and high residential densities to achieve walkable, vibrant neighborhoods.

When they think of “compact” and “high-density” development, most people think of skyscrapers, high-rises, and millions of people: Manhattan. But that’s not the kind of density TND uses. A more useful model is downtown Brattleboro, Northampton, or Keene. Two- to four-story buildings with residential and commercial uses mixed in a central core, surrounded by a mix of single- and multi-family homes on small lots.

Technically, the minimum residential density for a neighborhood to feel “walkable” is about 4 units per acre (single-family homes on quarter-acre lots; the Round Lake Road TND at left is a little more dense than that). When you get upwards of 30 units per acre, things start to feel more urban (think Manhattan).
Putting commercial and residential properties in close proximity (apartments above retail and office space, for example) makes a downtown vibrant and useable by its residents. Ideally, some residents live, work, and shop largely in a walkable radius.

Before cars existed, people lived and worked within a much smaller radius than they do now. TND seeks to shrink that radius to pre-automobile levels, at least in part. Doing so has obvious environmental benefits—less driving means less gas—but it also has other, less tangible benefits. Residents who walk to work and errands run into their neighbors and know their shopkeepers and local officials. This leads to an increased sense to community.

That, after all, is TND’s ultimate goal: to create community.

(This is the third in a series of posts about TND. For background, read the first and second.)

Last week we covered why Traditional Neighborhood Development is important to our communities and why Stevens & Associates finds it valuable as a practice. This week, we’ll being our look at what TND actually isand how to do it.Let’s start with a list—each of these items will be covered in depth, with examples, in future weeks.

Compact, Mixed-Use Development: Think Main Street USA, with multi-story buildings that house apartments and offices over storefronts and restaurants.

Minimum Residential Density: How many residential units (houses or apartments) per acre. The sweet spot is somewhere between 4 and 30 units per acre, depending on the neighborhood.

Narrower Front Setbacks: Essentially, putting houses closer to the road and sidewalks.

Greater Front Setbacks for Garages: To get houses closer to the road, you have to put garages farther from the road (a bigger setback).

“In-Scale” Building Design: Pedestrians tend to gravitate to buildings that are smaller and human-sized. Think townhouse, not skyscraper.

Orientation of Buildings to the Street: Main Streets with street-facing storefronts, residential neighborhoods with porches and front doors make a big difference in how an area feels to residents.

Walkable Street Patterns: Basically, creating a network of streets that get people—pedestrians—from one place to another. Not cul-de-sacs, dead ends, and circuitous routes.

Village-Style Roadway Design: The streets in most New England villages and towns are narrow, designed for the slower traffic of a horse-and-buggy era. TND suggests keeping them that way to make them more pedestrian friendly.

Pedestrian Amenities: Sidewalk width, lighting, benches, and street landscaping all contribute to an enjoyable pedestrian experience and encourage residents to walk.

Design and Landscaping of Parking Lots: Putting parking lots behind or beside buildings, instead of in front, makes more room streetside for pedestrians.

Public Parks, Town Greens, and Village Squares: Our communities need gathering spaces, and have traditionally provided them with central squares and greens. These gathering spaces are critical to creating a sense of community in a place.

Congratulations to the Brattleboro Food Coop, which recently won the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Award for Smart Growth Achievement for Main Street or Corridor Revitalization.

What does that mean? According to EPA, “The Smart Growth awards are given for creative, sustainable initiatives that better protect the health and the environment of our communities while also strengthening local economies.” In other words, EPA is rewarding projects that promote walkable downtowns like Brattleboro’s.

Of the Coop project, EPA says,”The Brattleboro Food Co-op, the town’s only downtown food store, made a commitment to remain at its downtown location by constructing an innovative, four-story green building on Main Street with a grocery store, commercial space, offices, and affordable apartments. The Main Street location provides healthy food, new jobs, and housing within walkable distances of downtown businesses and public transit.”

Stevens & Associates provided civil engineering for the project. More on that in another post.

The group of investors planning to restore the Brooks House has announced that Bread Loaf, out of Middlebury, Vermont, will serve as the construction manager and contractor for the project. The group still plans to complete the purchase of the building this fall and begin construction in December of this year.

Over the next several months, Bread Loaf will work with the investors and our design team to develop accurate cost estimates, secure bids from subcontractors, and finalize a construction schedule for the complex project.

We are currently finalizing floor plans with the aim of returning some of the building’s grandeur. A two-story atrium and grand stair will greet visitors entering from Main Street through the former Adagio restaurant entrance—the building’s original main entrance. The open entry will house a coffee bar and allow visitors to enter all retail spaces from inside the building. These stores will also have exterior entrances on Main Street and High Street.

Two stories would be added onto the rear, single-story portion of the building, creating additional office space and giving the building more of a distinct presence in Harmony Lot. A stair tower, added outside the rear of the main building, offers another distinct architectural element.

Stevens & Associates is also creating park-like elements in the portion of Harmony Lot closest to the building and the tunnel from High Street. Vehicular traffic through the tunnel will be maintained, but a planted courtyard will offer outdoor seating and more attractive pedestrian access to the Brooks House and neighboring buildings.

More information on the project, including detail on preleasing, is available at the project’s website. (Photo: Zachary P. Stephens/Reformer)

Dot’s restaurant is under construction! The building was removed from its foundation so we could get in and rebuild (and floodproof) the foundation. It will be lifted back into place and renovated.