New urbanism is a nod to the past and an acknowledgment that we love to live in neighborhoods where we can stroll to the corner store, socialize with friends and family close to home, utilize public amenities and services that help us to live in an eco-friendly ways, and work in an office down the street or in our homes.

That’s the new urbanism dream in a very simple nutshell. Best of all it’s not just a dream anymore – we’re reshaping old cities and building new communities across the country that meet these goals.

There are, however, still many people who fear new urbanism because it’s not perfect. They worry that some of the new urbanism communities being developed are too “fake” looking. They worry that because many newly built “new urbanism” communities also attract big retailers that these communities will compete with the real thing (e.g., historic towns, urban city cores).

I don’t get it. Why the worry?

New urbanism isn’t just about the buildings, it is about a mindset. We should be happy that we have a growing segment of the population that simply wants people friendly communities. We should be overjoyed that developers and city planners are thinking of ways to make old and new communities equally eco-friendly. It’s hard to live a green lifestyle without some solid help and leadership from our community leaders and service organizations (like recycling services, etc.).

The new urbanism movement is making all of this possible.

One of my favorite OLD new urbanism cities is Montreal…take a look at this article heralding a recent new urbanism seminar there but also raising some of the same old concerns we always hear about…click here to read.