Seaside, Florida and the roots of New Urbanism

Family and friends have been traveling to Seaside, Florida for a week at the beach for at least a dozen springs. Several years ago, in response to the growing cost of Seaside rentals, nearby Grayton Beach became the place to stay. The higher costs in Seaside are testament to the public response to the place, the first community to be built using the precepts of new urbanism, or neotraditional town planning.

Property owner and developer Robert Davis worked with Miami husband-and-wife architects Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, to create a master plan in the early 80s that prescribed the use of a number of key traditional beach design principles:

- a highly walkable community of moderate density (20 residential units per acre) where every home is within a 5 minute walk of the town center

- automobiles are acknowledged but downplayed by the use of narrow streets and the absence of garages

- very individual interpretations of vernacular beach architecture, guided by a design code that encourages the use of

• functional and decorative belvederes (see slideshow upper right)
• porches
• deep overhangs to provide shade during the hot and humid summer months
• one-of-a-kind picket fences
• lots of windows to allow cross-ventilation

- landscaping that is mostly native vegetation and avoids the use of grass

- unique pavilions at the end of each street that serve as gateways to the beach

As Seaside was built, the size of the homes increased, in part, to maximize seasonal rentals and accommodate extended families. Today, you will find a total of 489 residences; only a few lots remain vacant. While resales are currently slow, reflecting the larger slowdown in the real estate market particularly for higher-priced vacation properties, values are still in the rarefied range of $750 to $2000 per square foot, varying with proximity to the beautiful half-mile long white beach.

What does Seaside feel like? It has the style and the feel of an earlier time, as was intended by the return to traditional town design. It is a great place to go to slow down, enjoy simple pleasures and appreciate its significance in shaping the way that hundreds of other communities have been designed and built because of its founding.

Subsequent posts will focus on the larger new urbanism movement as a model for sustainable development.