Issue/Publication: New England Condominium

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What’s Old

12
NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM
May 2009

Condominium managers, boards and residents have

long known the benefits of clustered housing. They

know first-hand what it is like to live in a community

with others. They've been able to enjoy the smaller

ecological footprint of higher density living. And

where amenities like parks, grocery stores, and post

offices are nearby, condominium residents have embraced being

able to walk much of the time.

Unknowingly, many condominiums have exhibited some of

the principles of closely-related design movements called “New

Urbanism,” and “Smart Growth.” Both of these movements

began in the 1980s and stress a return to pre-World War II

neighborhoods, where neighbors knew each other and walked to

local businesses instead of driving cars to far-flung malls amidst

suburban sprawl.

Where Smart Growth defines the intelligent design of entire

communities based on guiding ideas about how communities

thrive, New Urbanism applies those same ideas in the “adaptive

reuse of pre-existing structures.”

May 2009
NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM
13

New Urbanism Turns Clock Back

to Old-Style Neighborhoods

By Robert Todd Felton