Developers are increasingly creating communities of historically-styled homes that aim to mimic small towns. But many are finding it is hard work to avoid a theme park feel.
"'Even if they're well built, a neighborhood full of Georgian colonials is a monotonous place to be,' says Russell Versaci, a Middleburg, Va., architect who is designing traditional farmhouses for historic-style neighborhoods and is the author of 'Creating a New Old House.' And some architects are skeptical that the cost and quality level of today's workmanship will allow these developers to make convincing reproductions.
Yet developers are trying hard. North of New York City, a Dutch company is building 23 homes modeled after 17th century Dutch architecture and using post-and-beam construction, an antique building technique that shuns nails. The developer of the community, called Brook in Waterland, even has imported European artisans, including wood carvers and faux-painters. Another developer brags that his 420-home community near Atlanta, called Serenbe, was largely built without using bulldozers in an attempt to replicate the landscape of an early 20th-century neighborhood.
Builders are betting that some people will pay more for the look of history."
FULL STORY: Selling History by the Square Foot
Zoning Code Update Makes the Nightly News in Cleveland
The potential of form-based codes to re-legalize the historic fabric of Cleveland is explained for the nightly news audience.
Historic Preservation—A Reason to Nix Scooters?
Scooter opponents in Alexandria, Virginia, claim the devices threaten the historic character of the city, but supporters say the argument is nonsense.
Legoland Proposal Splits Community
A new Legoland theme park proposed for the town of Goshen, north of New York City, has received a mixed response from the community.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
EV Infrastructure Booming in Suburbs, Cities Lag Behind
A lack of access to charging infrastructure is holding back EV adoption in many US cities.
Seattle Road Safety Advocates Say Transportation Levy Perpetuates Car-Centric Status Quo
Critics of a proposed $1.3 billion transportation levy say the package isn’t enough to keep up with inflation and rising costs and fails to support a shift away from car-oriented infrastructure.
Appeals Court: California Emissions Standards Upheld
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, the nation's two most powerful environmental regulatory agencies, won an important round in federal court last week. But the emissions standards battle may not be over.
Barrett Planning Group LLC
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HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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City of Laramie, Wyoming
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