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Figure 6.14
Residential street in Dilworth, Charlotte, NC.
Many streets in American ‘streetcar suburbs’
devolved to slum conditions in the 1960s and 
1970s as residents moved out to new houses in 
the new suburbs. Urban pioneers reclaimed these
older neighborhoods during the late 1970s and by
the end of the 1990s houses on streets like this
example were selling for several hundred thousand
dollars as inner-city living became desirable 
once again. Pedestrian-friendly streets like this now
form one of the public space models for New
Urbanist designs.
Figure 6.15
Newberry Street, Boston. What 
were once the front gardens of mass-produced
town homes in this Boston neighborhood have
become thriving places of recreation and
commerce, creating one of the most dynamic and
enjoyable streets in North America. (
Photo by
Adrian Walters
)
Figure 6.13
Main Street, Salisbury, NC. The iconic
American space of Main Street has declined in
stature and character since the 1950s with the
development of suburban shopping centers.
However, the renewed interest in urban living since
the 1990s has stimulated downtown refurbishment
and two of these buildings (far left and far right) in
this small North Carolina town now boast
apartments above active stores.
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We always maintain that new buildings should be
designed with close reference to their context. This
does 
not
mean a historicist approach, attaching his-
torical elements like columns and pediments to
building façades in an attempt to ‘blend in,’ but
rather one that is sensitive to the underlying rhythms
in the surrounding urban and natural conditions. In
practice we have found it useful to examine the
cityscape by means of 10 design elements that can
reveal the orchestration of the context. Working in
harmony with these contextual factors can establish a
deeper level of visual connection between new build-
ings and existing contexts than can ever be achieved
by simply copying façade details. New projects do
not necessarily have to address all 10 criteria, but they
should rarely disrupt these contextual patterns.
The 10 design elements to look for in the 
context surrounding any new project in an urban
location are:
1. Building Silhouette: The pitch and scale of
rooflines [Figure 6.18. Mint Street housing].
2. Spacing between Building Façades: Gaps or
notches between primary façades [Figure 6.19.
Dilworth Crescent].
3. Setback from the Property Line: Consistency of
spacing [Figure 6.20. Dilworth ‘Victorians’].
4. Proportion of Windows, Bays and Doorways:
Vertical and horizontal integration of elements
across façade [Figure 6.21. The Radcliffe].
DESIGN FIRST: DESIGN-BASED PLANNING FOR COMMUNITIES