Neo-Traditional Development:

New Urbanism Makes a Village

By Kim Shindle

People growing up in the ’30s and ’40s may have a sense of déjà vu when they visit new Traditional Neighborhood Developments (TNDs) springing up around the country.

“We’re getting away from the concepts that came into vogue with zoning,” says Scott Ulrich of Ulrich Appraisal in Lancaster. “The Traditional Neighborhood Developments reflect neighborhoods prior to World War II.

“We’re reverting back to this form of developing because we’ve realized the benefits it has that we didn’t understand or know before,” he continues. “In Lancaster County, we’re working to preserve agriculture. To do that, we can’t be taking farmland to build single-family homes on two-acre lots.”

There are several areas of design that define a TND or Neo-Traditional Development, also known as the New Urbanism, according to Ray D’Agostino, township manager for West Lampeter Township in Lancaster County.

“Our township calls it the Neighborhood Design Option (NDO),” D’Agostino says. “We see this neighborhood having a mixture of dwelling types, not all single-family detached homes. There are townhomes, attached homes (twins) and accessory apartments (single homes with an attached apartment or one above the garage).

“There is more open space than in other developments,” he adds. “The space is integrated throughout the development and there’s a lot more landscaping.”

D’Agostino says these neighborhoods reflect a variety of architectural design throughout, rather than a development that has similar homes in different colors. “They have narrower streets,” he adds. “We’re getting away from the wide streets which produce too much storm water runoff and vehicles traveling at higher speeds.”

West Lampeter Township allows up to 10 percent of the NDO to be commercial. Ulrich says this makes sense. “The idea used to be that you couldn’t mix a $100,000 home with a $50,000 home or that you couldn’t mix commercial with residential. Now we’re thinking it makes sense to put a small store in a neighborhood so you don’t have to jump in your car. You can could walk or bike to the store to get a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk.”

A community center building is also a requirement for the NDOs in West Lampeter, according to D’Agostino. “This is all part of getting back to the neighborhood concept,” he adds. “This center is for meetings and groups to meet within the neighborhood.”

D’Agostino says this style of development has a goal of creating a higher population density. “Our goals were to diversify the housing stock so we can provide housing not just for single families with children but downsizing baby boomers and young people just starting out. We’re also trying to preserve the natural features of our township. It’s very rural and we don’t have much more room to grow. If we increase the density in areas where development is being done, then we can preserve the other areas,” he says.