Design First Walters fm qxd 2/26/04 7: 50 pm page I

Figure 3.3
Traditional
Neighborhood, 1997, as designed
by Duany Plater-Zyberk and
Company. As with Figure 3.2, the
circle represents a five-minute
walk from the center. (
Diagram
courtesy of Duany Plater-Zyberk
and Company
)
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CHAPTER THREE
●
TRADITIONAL URBANISM
59
a small town, or ‘urban village’ organized primarily
with the needs of the pedestrian in mind, like the pre-
automobile suburbs that formed the basis for
Traditional Neighborhood Developments, but devel-
oped around new public transit – usually light rail –
that enabled residents of one ‘pocket’ to travel conve-
niently to others and to a major metropolis (Kelbaugh,
1989). Once again the concept of the five-minute walk
defined the scale of the development, five minutes
being established as the maximum distance an average
American will walk to catch transit (see Figure 3.5).
Walking distance apart, there are remarkable similari-
ties between the TOD vision and Ebenezer Howard’s
concept of Garden Cities, where a series of indepen-
dent communities would be located around a major
metropolis and connected together by railways.
This full transit vision has not yet been implemented
anywhere in the USA, although Portland, Oregon, per-
haps comes closest, but the marked upsurge of interest
in light rail transit in cities across the USA is a testament
to the power of the original Pedestrian Pocket/Transit-
oriented Development concept. The City of San Diego
was one of the first to adopt Calthorpe’s Transit-
oriented Development principles in an official city ordi-
nance in 1992 (Calthorpe Associates, 1992). Many
other cities have followed suit with similar codes pre-
pared by the other consultants who have mastered the
techniques of Transit-oriented Development. Transit-
Oriented Development has thus managed to extend
the same planning and urban design ideas found in
Traditional Neighborhood Development into a regional
context by connecting existing places and new commu-
nities along fixed transit corridors, primarily utilizing
light rail or commuter rail technology. Each transit stop
can catalyze a neighborhood planned for a mixture
of higher-density uses within a five- or ten-minute
walking radius (1/4–1/2-mile) organized around pedes-
trian-friendly streets, squares and parks.
Traditional Neighborhood Developments and
Transit-oriented Developments were relatively few
in number during the 1980s. Seaside in Florida
(1982), and Kentlands, near Washington DC (1988),
by DPZ provided the leading built examples.
Peter Calthorpe’s Laguna West, near Sacramento,
California followed in 1990. Both types of develop-
ment became far more common during the 1990s,
due largely to avid proselytizing of the ideas around
the nation by Duany, Plater-Zyberk, Calthorpe and
others (Duany and Plater-Zyberk, 1991; Calthorpe,
1993), but also to changing national demographics of
smaller, more diverse households for whom more
compact, walkable, and mixed-use neighborhoods
were attractive places to live. These two movements
coalesced in the formation of the Congress for the
New Urbanism (CNU) in 1993, which has held
annual congresses every year since that date. The basic
tenets of the movement were defined in the Charter
of the New Urbanism, which was ratified in 1996,
and which established guiding principles and para-
digms for postmodern urbanism.
The Charter (reproduced in Appendix I) is
organized into four sections: (i) an untitled preface of
general statements; (ii) the Region – Metropolis, City
and Town; (iii) the Neighborhood, District, and
Corridor; and (iv) the Block, the Street and the
Building (Congress for the New Urbanism, 1998,
2000). The document first emphasizes coherent urban
design and planning at a regional scale, promoting the
renewed urbanity of existing areas, and the increased
urbanity of new development. This focused urbanism
is balanced by a concern for the environmentally sus-
tainable relationship between any metropolis and its
agrarian hinterland and natural landscapes. The sub-
sequent sections spell out the movement’s concerns
for the reconstruction of American cities at a variety
of scales, utilizing many of the concepts articulated
previously by Leon Krier and his fellow neo-rationalists
in their manifestoes for the reconstruction of the
European city, and adapting them to American
practice.
The Charter is a manifesto for physical and social
change in American towns and cities. New Urbanism
aims to alter the ways people understand and build the
places where they live and work, superceding mod-
ernist concepts of separated single-use zoning areas,
buildings isolated in open space and an environment
dominated by the automobile. Instead, the main orga-
nizing principles involve: the creation of compact,
defined urban neighborhoods, comprising a compati-
ble mixture of uses and housing types; a network of
connected streets with sidewalks and street trees to
facilitate convenient and safe movement throughout
neighborhoods for all modes of transportation; the
primacy of the pedestrian over the automobile; the
integration of parks and public spaces into each neigh-
borhood; and the placement of important civic build-
ings on key sites to create a strong visual structure of
memorability. In short, it was an endorsement of the
forms and types of traditional urbanism that had been
presaged in some avant-garde sectors of American acad-
emia a decade and a half earlier, as noted in Chapter 1.
One of the most important applications of these
New Urbanist ideas is in the design and planning of
new projects on infill ‘grayfield’ sites, usually the
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DESIGN FIRST: DESIGN-BASED PLANNING FOR COMMUNITIES
60
1. For buildings set back from sidewalk, balconies, 
stoops, stairs, open porches, bay windows, and
awnings are permitted to encroach into setback 
area up to 8'. 
2. Attached decks are permitted to encroach into 
the rear setback up to 15 feet. 
3. For buildings set up to the sidewalk, upper 
level balconies, bay windows and their supports 
at ground level may encroach a maximum of 
5'0" over the sidewalk. 
4. Main pedestrian access to the building and to 
individual units is from the street (indicated by 
larger arrow), unless specifically exempted by 
one of the provisions of Section 8.1. Secondary 
access may be from parking areas (indicated by 
smaller 
arrow). 
Parking
10
Min./
25’ Max.
ROW
Special case
0
Min. />25
Max.
8
Min
15
Min
8
Max
ROW
Sidewalk
Street
Sidewalk
Street
Parking
1. Buildings shall be placed on the lot within the zone represented
within the hatched area. 
2. In most cases, the build to line will be 15' behind street ROW.
Special site conditions such as topography, pattern of lot
widths, or setbacks of existing buildings permit a larger setback.
In urban conditions, apartments may be set up to the property
line at the sidewalk, including corner conditions. 
3. Building facades shall be generally parallel to front property
lines. All buildings shall front onto a public street. All ground
floor residential units with exterior access shall front a public
street, unless specifically exempted by one of the provisions
of Section 8.1. 
4. Parking shall be located to the rear of the building. 
5. Points of permitted access to the parking indicated by arrows. 
6. Hedges, garden walls, or fences may be built on property
lines or as the continuation of building walls. A garden wall,
fence, or hedge (min. 3' in height) shall be installed along
any street frontage adjacent to parking areas. 
7. Trash containers shall be located in the rear parking area (see
Parking 
Regulations). 
8. Mechanical equipment at ground level shall be placed on
the parking lot side of building and away from buildings on
adjacent 
sites.
Building Placement/Parking/Vehicular Access
Encroachment/Pedestrian Access
Lot Type/Apartment Building
1. The intention of buildings in all locations must be to relate
the principal facade to the sidewalk and publicspace of the street. 
2. Corners: Setback at street corners will generally replicate
frontage conditions. However, side setbacks on a minor street
may be less than the front dimension. 
3. Within the limits described, front and side setbacks will vary
depending upon site conditions. Setbacks should be used in a
manner which encourages pedestrian activity. Squares or spatially
defined plazas within building setback areas can act as focal points
for pedestrians.
The apartment building is a residential building
accommodating several households. In traditional towns, this
building type coexists with a variety of other building types. A
successful contemporary design permits its integration with other
residential types through the coordination of site and building
design (see Architectural Regulations). Apartment complexes
should be one or more separated buildings similar in their scale on
the public street to large detached housing.
Special Conditions:
Description:
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CHAPTER THREE
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TRADITIONAL URBANISM
61
Residential
Use
36
Max.*
8
Max.
V
ar
ies
1. Building height shall be measured as the vertical distance from
the highest finished grade relative to the street frontage, up
to the eaves or the highest level of a flat roof.
2. The height of parapet walls may vary depending on the need
to screen mechanical equipment.
3. Building heightto ridge may vary depending on the roof pitch. 
4. Permitted uses are indicated above.
A. To perpetuate the unique building character of the town and
its environs, and to re-establish its local identity, development
shall generally employ building types that are sympathetic to
the historic architectural vocabulary of the area in their
massing and external materials. 
B. The front elevations facing the street, and the overall massing
shall communicate an emphasis on the human scale and
the pedestrian environment. 
C. Each building should be designed to form part of a larger
composition of the area in which it is situated. Adjacent
buildings should thus be of similar scale, height, and
configuration. 
D. Building silhouettes should be generally consistent. The scale
and pitch of roof lines should thus be similar across groups of
buildings. 
E. Porches should form a predominant motif of house designs,
and be ocated on the front or to the side of the dwelling.
When attached to the front, they should extend over at least
15% of the front facade. All porches should be constructed
of materials in keeping with those of the main building. 
F. Front loaded garages, if provided, shall meet the standards
of Section 8.16. 
G. At a minimum, the Americans with Disabilities Act standards
for accessibility shall be met.
A. Main roofs on residential buildings shall be symmetrical gables
or hips with a pitch of between 4:12 and 12:12. Monopitch
(shed) roofs are allowed only if they are attached to the wall
of the main building. No monopitch shall be less than 4:12. All
accessory buildings shall have roof pitches that conform to
those of the main building. 
B. Balconies should generally be simply supported by posts and
beams. The support of cantilevered balconies should be
assisted by visible brackets. 
C. Two wall materials may be combined horizontally on one
facade. The "heavier" material should be below. 
D. Exterior chimneys should be finished in brick or stucco.
Configurations
A. Overhanging eaves may expose rafters. 
B. Flush eaves should be finished by profiled molding or gutters.
Techniques
Principles
Architectural standards
Permitted height and uses
Building Type/Apartment Building