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Mixed use town centers and urban retail
New urbanists conceived a radical departure from the shopping centers, power centers, enclosed malls, strips centers, and stand-alone, highway-oriented stores that had dominated retail development in the US since the end of World War II. They proposed to bring stores back into mixed-use neighborhoods and town centers and to place them on streets where they would define the public realm. Parking lots and garages would be hidden in the interior of blocks.
The idea was to allow adults to walk to buy a loaf of bread or a carton of milk, and to enable kids to buy popsicles on a hot summer day without help from their parents. This remains a compelling vision and it has been realized in many locations, but it also remains one of the toughest challenges that new urbanists face. (From New Urbanism: Best Practices Guide)
Energizing a sluggish town center
Best-of-kind businesses are being enticed to a new Main Street in Habersham, South Carolina, that had previously failed to catch on.
Demographic and market conditions are causing supermarkets in the District of Columbia region and elsewhere to modify their designs and fit walkable neighborhoods.
Virginia town center opens in tough economy
Along Interstate 64 in southeastern Virginia, a $276 million mixed-use town center is opening at a tough time. Three- and four-story buildings with first-floor retail are rising near seas of parking and suburban arterial roads in Hampton, a city of 145,000 containing little existing urbanism — in a metro area of 1.8 million people.
The current downturn, says a top retail expert, is “shaking out plans and centers that were poorly conceived.”
Making town centers work for businesses and people
Some new urbanists are embracing the techniques of a people-oriented firm called Live Work Learn Play.
Conversion of malls to mixed-use centers gathers speed
Pennsylvania REIT is creating a town center at a New Jersey mall and forming a similar strategy in Orlando, Florida.
Town center triumphs over national mall owner
West Hartford, Connecticut's Blue Back Square opens despite two referendums and litigation instigated by the Taubman company.
General Growth moves ahead on Utah urban center
The $552 million redevelopment of Cottonwood Mall in Holladay, Utah, represents a shift towards mixed-use development by General Growth Properties, the nation’s second largest mall owner.
Complications of mixed-use don't deter Tennessee developer
Boyle Investment Company's new project, Berry Farms, has been cited as an example of “quality growth” by Cumberland Region Tomorrow, a smart-growth education and technical assistance organization in Middle, Tennessee. But it's been a struggle getting there.
Live work units offer relief from housing downturn
Terra Land Group, which produced the Town Commons traditional neighborhood development in Howell, Michigan, is now turning to inexpensive live-work units as a way of coping with the current housing market — sluggish in much of the nation and especially depressed in Michigan.
Retail seen as ‘the Achilles’ heel’ of some TODs
Transit-oriented development project Fruitvale Village in Oakland, California highlights questions of how much retail to build and how to handle parking.
How to mitigate the impact of big box stores
The choice depends on the budget and the unique circumstances of each main street or urban center. Belmar, a new urbanist grayfield development in Lakewood, Colorado, employs four strategies.
Targeting changes in big box stores
One chain increasingly tailors its stores to the urban market by including two levels, escalators, and structured parking.
Terminated vistas: focusing the power of urban retail
Developers and stores increasingly recognize the economic advantages of key locations in town centers.
Live work houses goes mainstream
Aided by computers, fax machines, and modems, nearly 20 million US citizens operate a home business. The live/work unit — also called the “flex” house — had its roots in the main street shopfront and loft buildings.
Town centers open around the US
Crocker Park, Victoria Gardens, and Belmar illustrate the trend toward mixed-use retail areas.
Getting Centered
Mixed-use urban centers are “hot” in the development industry, yet they require far more skill to pull off successfully than the typical suburban shopping center, office park, or apartment complex.
What's in store for new urban supermarkets?
Grocers are discovering that if they build a better food store, customers will beat a path to their door — or, in some instances, to their basement parking garage.
Four keys to successful town centers
Yaromir Steiner explains four important rules for regional urban centers:
A primer on retail types
and town centers
Robert Gibbs explains The corner store, convenience center, neighborhood center, community center, regional center, and the lifestyle (town) center.
Courtesy of MV+A Architects
Whole Foods in Alexandria, Virginia
Urban Target in Minneapolis
Live work units in Habersham, South Carolina
Courtesy of Target
Courtesy of Habersham Land Co.
New Urbanism: Best Practices Guide includes in-depth chapters on urban retail and mixed use.
Strategies for a
successful corner market
“The idea that someone can walk to buy a loaf of bread, milk, produce, or other items is central to the concept of New Urbanism,” he says. Getting a store running early on was a key part of the plan, Busse notes.
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