TND in the Northeastern US

[Dan]

As I wrote in another post, my community's proposed comp plan recommends Traditional Neighborhood Development as the preferred form of development over conventional suburban subdivisions, with areas designated for new TND-based neighborhoods.

One problem I'm having in selling the idea to those who may still be a bit uncertain: finding good local-ish examples of TND projects; places that might be a destination for a day trip, or a side trip when visiting their relatives in Boston, NYC or wherever. There's thousands of photos online of TND projects, but most seem to be in the South and West, where the landscape or vernacular architecture are much different than in the Northeast. I have to be careful with showing others my photos of projects in Denver and Austin, because the landscape is much drier, with far less tree cover, than in green, rain-soaked upstate New York. I've got plenty of photos from my visits to TNDs in the Orlando area, but the vernacular architecture and palm trees also make it hard for others to conceive of such a project in their backyard. I could point to nearby historic villages -- "Check out Skaneateles and Cazenovia!" -- but the "old urbanism" hardly reflects more contemporary TNDs.

So, throbbing brain of Cyburbia: can you point me towards examples of good-sized, real TNDs (e.g. not some "neotraditional" conventional subdivision like this), with a wide range of housing and maybe some commercial/mixed use, that aren't outrageously far from the 607? If they have a "crunchy" feel (e.g. Serenbe near Atlanta), all the better, but it's not a must.

[GButler]

Baxter Village in Fort Mill SC ought to be a good one. It has similar vegetation and is about as 'traditional' as I have seen for new developments. Its 'Town Center' does a pretty good job of emulating a mixed use city street.

Here is a link to their website's photo album: http://www.villageofbaxter.com/photoalbum.php

[Cismontane]

I don't now about literal adherence to Duany's scheme (which he subsequently superseded with the smartcode transect, anyway), but the following projects come to mind as having elements of the TND:

- Lowell, MA urban design guidelines
- Windsor at Oak Grove, MA (Melrose I think)
- Tuxedo Reserve, NY
- Carvel, NY
- St Andrews, NY
- Blue Black Square, CT
- Storrs Center, CT (Mansfield I think)
- Harbor Point, CT (Stamford I think)
- Mashpee Commons, Cape Cod, MA
- Station Landing, MA (Medford I think)
- Livingston Town Center NJ
- Washington Town Center NJ

This is just off top of my head.. and I only remember the development names.. so you'll have to look them up. There are at least a dozen others I can't recollect right now. My old firm worked on at least half if 'em in one respect or another.