New Urbanism: Even in Arkansas

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette tucked a long story about New Urbanism in Arkansas on the bottom of its Northwest Arkansas section yesterday. There are a couple of things I found worth commenting on.

Subdivision snobbery?
The first paragraph of Andy Davis’ story talks about how the central Arkansas community of Maumelle was in an uproar six years ago after a developer proposed a subsidized apartment complex near some of the nicest neighborhoods in the small town — basically a suburb of Little rock. It caused such and uproar, in fact, that Maumelle voters adopted a new form of government.

This is not unusual. The same thing happens in my small town of Siloam Springs. Even if the proposal calls for half acre lots and 2,000 square foot homes, people who own acreages north of town oppose nearby developments in force. Some of them, with a certain amount of validity, cite increased traffic and drainage concerns. Others are more honest and bemoan the potential decrease in property value or an increase in crime. These people come across as quite averse to New Urbanism. Actually, I’d be surprised if these people ever heard of or thought about New Urbanism.

New Urbanism espouses community. Part of community is diversity. If you only allow homes of a certain kind to be built in certain areas, you will be hard pressed to achieve any socioeconomic diversity. New Urbanism, as Andy Smith eludes to later in his article, in its purest form makes significant attempts to mix housing types. Apartments above garages and living quarters above workplaces are two ways to do this.

Such acreages as are found north of Siloam Springs will not easily be incorporated into any kind of New Urbanist planning. However, my point is that these “subdivision snobs,” by so vehemently protecting their “club,” consequently live more isolated lives. This isn’t to say they aren’t “cultured” or aren’t “traveled.” They may well be. But they are not living in community as New Urbanism hopes.

I can understand their reservations. When we are comfortable, our human tendency is to retain that comfort. And, granted, it takes more than proximity to foster such community. Some of the most affluent people in my community live right across the street from me — and I certainly don’t count as affluent. But I haven’t met them yet. I haven’t even made an effort to meet them yet. This is the sad way of so many neighborhoods in America today — New Urbanist or not.

Har-Ber Meadows
Northwest Arkansas’ largest planned community is called Har-Ber Meadows. Immediately west of Springdale, it has been a valiant effort. The community includes a wonderful green space, varying home sizes along with a hospice center, schools and more recently retail development. Tall and narrow row houses flanking the central green space, Founder’s Park, create an idyllic neighborhood.

I do have two criticisms of Har-Ber Meadows. It seems as though some of the homes were cheaply built. I’ve walked through a couple of open houses, and a friend rented another with some roommates which he said was in terrible repair. Secondly, the retail center is on the corner of the development. When I studied it eight years ago, New Urbanism strove to keep such things as the grocer, the post office and the schools within a ten-minute walk. People living on the opposite corner of the community have more than a ten-minute walk.

But to its credit, Har-Ber Meadows has encouraged and created some of the community the planners desired. The photo accompanying Davis’ story shows some of the mothers in the community meeting up to walk their children to school.