According to Robert Davis, the town of Seaside is considered the most successful example of neo-traditional town planning in existence today. The concept that guided the development of Seaside--the New Urbanism--has been embraced and adopted by an increasing number of scholars, developers, planners and critics. The principles of the New Urbanism underlie The Institute’s approach to bettering civic life.
As expressed by The Congress for the New Urbanism, "The built environment must be diverse in use and population; must be scaled for the pedestrian, yet capable of accommodating the auto and mass transit and must have a well-defined public realm supported by an architecture reflecting the ecology and culture of the region. These principles--diversity, human scale and a formative public realm--apply equally to physical design, economic policy and social form."
New Urbanism communities seek to bring to their residents new opportunities to experience neighborliness in their personal lives and facilitate greater participation in the life of the community. There are now many cities, towns and neighborhoods which manifest New Urbanism ideals. These communities demonstrate that inspired community design has a positive impact on both the quality of civic life and the human spirit.
The Seaside Institute, through its members and programs, contributes significantly to the dissemination of New Urbanism ideals and information.
Yes, it looks great, the kids seem to love it. I probably would like to live there, if I was retired and independently wealthy, but Seaside is not a real town, it is an upscale vacation resort. Perhaps one day it will become what it pretends to be, for now, it is a place populated by out of state visitors, and out of town workers. As for the New Urbanism concept, much remains to be done. See the pictures. Peregrino
