Centennial Place

Centennial Place as a representation of New Urbanism or Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) doesn’t immediately compute with me. There are houses available to a mixture of incomes, schools and offices close by, and shopping/entertaining arguably within walking distance. But those distinct elements—coined “live, work, play” by marketers— formed more organically than what stands out in my mind as the showcase of New Urbanism or Smart Growth projects in Atlanta like Atlantic Station or Edgewood. In his article “Social Capital and New Urbanism: Leading a Civic Horse to Water?,” Thomas H. Sander qualifies the “urbanism” in the movement as meaning a community that is diverse with mixed land uses and demographics; walkable, which entails being within a five minute walk from your front door to the store via a pedestrian pathway; automobiles are not given favor over pedestrian traffic in the design; the community is open, not gated and marked by a clear center and edges. Proximity to what is traditionally considered an urban area may or may not factor into the recognition of a community as New Urbanism.

For the most part, Centennial Place fits the criteria of New Urbanism as defined by Sander. Moreover, Centennial Place won three distinctions for its developer, the Integral Group including the 2000 Smart Growth Award from the Urban Land Institute. My question is what is the difference between a housing development that is purposefully built convenient to life’s activities and a community designed with the principles of New Urbanism in mind? If the rules governing what defines these types of projects are interpreted loosely, every new single or multi family dwelling built in close proximity to a shop or office might be understood as being part of the movement. At least this would explain the diverse and unapparent projects that are put forth to represent this sort of community planning. However, undeserved praise and critique of these theories and their manifestations might result in future interpretation of New Urbanism’s impact on the residents and the larger community that experience them.