I settled in the Asheville region after leaving Alaska so that I could be closer to my family. After getting established I became interested in new urbanism and the communities that were being designed alongside it's principals. I have been fortunate enough to have traveled extensively within our great country. And my favorite places have been those that have clung to a sense of community against the tide of urban sprawl. Traditional Neighborhood Developments seem to encourage the values that bring communities together. I once had a philosophy teacher who told me, " If you ever want to be rich or successful all you have to do is find something forgotten in the past and re-invent it." The planners, architects, and developers who are behind this growing trend are doing just that. They have taken it upon themselves to re-invent the American community, something to many of us have just learned to just live without.
Traditional Neighborhood Developments such as Seaside, Celebration, and Rosemary Beach have come on the scene and dramatically changed the way America looks at development. And as the old saying goes, money talks, these developments have experienced almost unheard of rates of appreciation. Only natural, as America notices the benefits of new urbanism and starts on it's way home.
