Description
Reid Ewing draws upon case examples of some of today's most acclaimed developments in Best Development Practices, and recommends best practice guidelines to help developers create vibrant, livable communities—and still make money.
For years, Florida's planners and developers have had to deal with some of the most difficult growth management problems. Now planners and developers across the nation can benefit from the valuable lessons Florida offers on combating urban sprawl. Ewing first searched the state for the best contemporary developments, then distilled their lessons into guidelines for directing new development and assessing the quality of existing development.
The 43 practices outlined in this exciting book cover four areas of development—land use, transportation, the environment, and housing. They apply to a broad range of development projects, including small planned communities, residential subdivisions, and commercial centers. The book's recommendations are based upon the experiences of successful developers and supported by empirical research. The proof lies in the compelling real-world examples Ewing highlights throughout the text.
Illustrated with dozens of photographs and written in a lively style, Best Development Practices is must reading for all those seeking better ways to plan and design communities. Developers will find proven, feasible land development regulations and benchmarks against which to evaluate development proposals.
Table of Contents
See full table of contents
Reviews
See all reviews
Originally prepared for the Florida Department of Community Affairs, Best Development Practices is meant to take state growth management goals and objectives into the trenches, demonstrating ôthe enlightened edge of current development practicesö (1). Reid Ewing aims for relevance by identifying exemplary practices used by some of FloridaÆs largest developers. Seven sites survived a detailed screening; they varied in size from 1,073 to 5,119 acres and from 7,300 to 23,100 buildout populations. Ewing added five traditional towns to the mix because ôtraditional towns seem to do some things better than even the best contemporary developments, such as handle traffic and encourage street lifeö (11).
Best Development Practices describes forty-three practices in 100 pages. Chapters covering land use, transportation, environmental protection and affordable housing are supported by thirty pages of detailed and valuable notes. The guidelines are clearly and concisely expressed, girded by survey and research, and illustrated by scores of current standards, site plans, pictures, proofs, and indices.
The chosen development practices are not a compilation from other manuals, even if certain practices may resemble others. They possess a practical, field work quality, setting them apart from guideline attempts that may be more idealistic and theoretically perfect. Rather than recommending a practice to ômix land uses,ö the book says to mix them ôat the finest grain the market will bearàö Why this deference to the market? Because ômixed use development is rare in Floridaö (21), and Ewing knows that in the marketplace an evolutionary practice has more chance for success than one that overreaches.
The book promotes clusters as the natural form of separation between incompatible land uses (25), while still attempting to promote walkability and relatively low residential densities of six to seven units per acre. Ewing wants to ômake subdivisions into neighborhoods with well-defined centers and edgesö (32). However, examples of tree screening, street separations, alleys, and pocket parks provide a limited range of centering and edge creation possibilities. The center and edge practices are necessarily curtailed by the bookÆs new community selection methodology. As a result, many practices become a kind of halfway house between traditional best practices rediscovered by new urbanism and newer practices that serve the market with a relatively high standard.
Transportation concepts are particularly well presented. Ewing suggests that street networks should have ômultiple connections and relatively direct routesö (54). This hybrid concept, between cul de sac and new urbanist models, is based on a useful concept of indexing connectivity. In sum, the twelve transportation practices reclaim authority from pavement-oriented transportation engineers, with many practical measures to ôovercome a transportation system that only an auto could loveö (54).
The book embraces elements of new urbanist philosophy, but it stakes out narrower territory. Ewing expects it to be most relevant to new, large-scale developments. Issues of urban disinvestment and the insidious developmental process that eats away at the landscape in bites of three to thirty lots remain outside the boundaries of Best Development Practices. The book aims to arrest sprawl, but can provide only a partial answer, because sprawl is being tolerated and even promoted by state and local governments.
Growth management policies provide the seedbed for best development practices to flourish. Florida is a leader among states in taking steps to manage growth. But even in areas where the bed has not been adequately prepared, students, planners and developers will find Best Development Practices to be valuable. Reid Ewing expresses considerable idealism, but keeps his feet on the ground.
Roger P. Akeley, AICP
Back to Top