The Center of Town
August 20, 2007 · Print This Article
One of the things I love about new urbanism is that you can enjoy the benefits of new urban living whether you live in a new or old development located in the city or the suburb. New urban living is just about enjoying the natural beauty and spirit of our communities. We make our communities special through our interests in the health and vitality of each other and the greater community around us.
I know I get a little repetitive about this but I truly believe to shape our lives according to our priorities we have to be purposeful in all we do and that includes our community life. For example, where I live some forward thinking folks decided about 20 years ago that our sprawling, anonymous suburb really needed a town center to keep people connected and interested in living in the core. They also believed that this was necessary to curb the trend of residents moving out into our precious and dimimishing farm lands.
Fast forward a few years and today we have a fantastic town center that is really just a string of reclaimed old buildings along an old main street that was saved from the developers wrecking ball. That “center” has spurred the development of more retail, professional and service oriented businesses in addition to newly constructed “new urban,” sustainable housing. Our town center is the place for jazz festivals, harvest festivals, Old Tyme Christmas festivals and a host of other events that make kids, parents, and everyone else feel a part of something that is real and meaningful.
Our main street has become the “anti-mall” gathering place. Not overly fancy or expensive, but very relaxing and kind of homey.
Today I took some pictures from our “Jazz Sundays” event. My daughter and a dear friend I hadn’t seen in a while are standing in front of our “old fashioned” band shell that was built in 2000. For the rest of the afternoon we sat on the grass listening to wonderful music before walking home with our favorite ice cream cone in hand.
Tags: Family Life, New Urbanism, community life, festivals, intentional communities, new urbanism, town center
Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting about my car situation (oh wait - that’s lack of car situation…lol). It just reminds me that other people have been there and I need to get over it and move on instead of whining and crying about it - LOL.
Your town sounds wonderful!! WOW I would love a “Jazz Sundays” here in my town. I live in DC in a great area called Brookland and we have flea markets, a Brookland Day where the stores open their doors to great discounts and our local Tae Kwon Do Students perform (My 7yo son is a Blue Belt). I don’t think our town fully fits what you describe as urbanism or new urbanism but it sure is a great place to raise children
BTW I love that picture!
Hey Aurelia - thanks for stopping by! Flea markets, active community programs and events (Brookland Day - love that!), proximity to business/urban areas (DC) … yup unless you are in a farm community where people are acres apart, your community sounds like lovely new urban community!
It does sound awesome! We live in a small town out in the country…we have cows and chickens and horses in our neighborhood. lol
Nell
Yes, “Jazz Sundays” sound wonderful. I liked the photo of your daughter and friend, and the gazebo style building you photographed. It sounds like your town is a great place to bring up children.
Diana