The Village Project: Smart Folks Championing Smart Growth
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA 
on 04. 9.07
We have already covered a North Carolina project encouraging people to design their lifestyles around better transport options here, now we’ve come across a project that aims to make such choices easier. The Village Project is an organization offering advocacy, information and facilitation for designing more people friendly communities in Orange County, North Carolina.
We came across them after hearing board member Patrick McDonough speak at a local peak oil event. We were very impressed with his arguments for an overhaul of development ordinances in favor of dense, mixed-use, urban developments, rather than the current practice of separating building types according to use, therefore creating a car (and fossil fuel) dependent culture. Patrick pointed out that when many Americans picture urban density, they think Manhattan, but are surprised to learn that Venice, Italy, actually has an almost identical population density, yet is a much more people- and pedestrian-friendly community.
Patrick’s talk also referred to research analyzing transport patterns of residents in Southern Village, a mixed-use development in Chapel Hill that has been championed as a prime example of Smart Growth and New Urbanism, compared to residents in a similar non-mixed use neighborhood. Apparently, it was shown that residents in Southern Village drove an average of over 17 miles less per day than their counterparts.
Aside from giving talks at community events, the Village Project has worked on facilitation to make community planning more inclusive, and has developed a number of concept plans for Orange County neighborhoods with a view to encouraging more pedestrian-friendly development. We certainly support their cause, and would love to see The Village Project, and other similar groups, gaining a much stronger voice, not just in America, but across the world.
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I am a big proponent of "horizontal" zoning - where you say the 1st floor is retail, then going up would be office and/or residential. Not only is it better to promote living near your work, but it also increases "captive audiences" for retail/restaurants. I would be much more inclined to eat at a restaurant that I can walk to rather than having to drive - it's far more convenient!
I live in Dallas, TX. There is a very large push in Dallas to build TOD (Transit Oriented Developments) here. There is a 70 acre parcel about half a mile from my house that is being proposed as a TOD. We have a light rail coming right through the development. There will be condos, lofts, retail/restaurants and office space, along with a light rail stop and hike/bike trails that tie into the city-wide trail system and a few new "lakes" (aka ponds - haha). This is being developed by Prescott Realty Group, here in Dallas, and this project is called the Lake Highlands Town Center. I think it's going to be a wonderful step toward a greener, more pedestrian friendly Dallas.
Also worth noting is a developement that has been in place for several years, setting the bar for TOD's here - Mockingbird Station (http://www.mockingbirdstation.com/).
Light rail ridership in Dallas is slowly on the rise. As we continue to build out more rail stations and expand the system, I fully expect that trend to continue. Such exciting times in Dallas!