Right now the new urbanist Stapleton development in Denver is having a bit of a crisis.  There are more kids in the development than there are seats for in the 2 neighborhood elementary schools.  There is no money to build a new school due to the way Stapleton set-up funding for school construction which is dependent on taxes raised by development within Stapleton.  You can see the flaw in this plan of course since we are currently in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.  Not to mention the land that was originally set aside for a 3rd elementary school is contaminated and the funds to clean it up were to come from AIG (’nuff said).   Another significant element in the equation:  the number of kids projected to live in Stapleton was severely underestimated.  By their estimates, in the next two years there will be 500 kids needing to enter kindergarten with no room in Stapleton’s schools.  That is a huge number.   I can’t help but think this underestimate stems from a similar problem that happened in Bradburn–marketing studies somehow concluded families wouldn’t be as heavily drawn to new urbanist communities as they actually are.

In Bradburn, our developer told us a marketing study conducted before they built the neighborhood didn’t come anywhere close to predicting how many families would move into the neighborhood.  The original plan for our neighborhood pool reflected this–there was no kiddie pool.  Once our developer realized how wrong that prediction was and that Bradburn was in fact a HUGE draw for families–about 80% of the homes here are occupied by families with kids under age 10–they changed the plans for the pool to include a kiddie pool.   In Stapleton, a survey found 40% of over 1,000 homes sampled are occupied with families with children under age 2! 

I hope future new urbanist developers learn from this FUBAR situation in Stapleton, and I would like to extend an invite to any parents in Stapleton who decide to move as a result of this mess–you are welcome to come to Bradburn Village in Westminster. We would love to have nice new, social neighbors. Our schools are great, and there’s plenty of room in them.

We’ve had a very mild winter here in Colorado and last weekend we had a very nice 68 degree day with no wind (unusual for Jan-March is usually like living in a wind tunnel here then).  Everyone in my neighborhood came out of the woodwork and the parks were filled with neighbors chatting and kids playing.  It’s like that here pretty much every warm day.  I was walking home from an impromtu park party and two nice women walking their bikes called out to a group of us in the park (another park party LOL) “does anyone have a tire pump?”.  We have a very large, awesome open space area behind my neighborhood with extensive bike trails so frequently have people riding through the neighborhood to go to our businesses–usually for ice cream.  I told the women I had a pump and they could follow me to my house and use it.  So we start walking down the street and one of the women asks “So, what do you think about living here?”. 

We joke about this frequently in the neighborhood–that when people looking at Bradburn Village or people visiting ask this question (which is a lot) we freak them out with our enthusiasim–”Thisisthebestneighborhoodeveryouwanttolivehere!”.  We are afraid we scare people off since loving your neighborhood with a passion (especially in the suburbs) has been dead for some time in America–so people may think it’s freakish. 

I answered the woman’s question:

Me: “I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else”

Visitor: “Why?”.    I pointed to the houses on my street,

Me: ”Because I am friends with every person in every house”. 

Visitor: [incredulous] “You know every person on your street?”

Me: “No, I know every person in nearly every single house in the entire neighborhood”.

Visitor: [thoughtful] “So it’s not just marketing.” (meaning she’s heard promotion materials for Bradburn or new urbanism in general).

Me: “Nope”. 

It’s not. 

The other night we were walking around the neighborhood and I was noticing how many empty lots we still have for houses (around 40 or so).  I said to my husband,

“Bradburn is such an awesome place to live, I don’t know why we aren’t totally sold out!”.  My husband said,

“Well people drive in here and say, oh my God the yards are too small and the neighbors are too close!”.  Which it totally true.  Bradburn is so different from the surrounding suburbia–all large lot subdivisions with giant, useless setbacks and large yards–I think people go into shock when they drive in here.  It got me wondering, when did we start thinking of neighbors as something negative–something we wanted to get away from as much as we could afford to–instead of positives?  Where did the prevailing idea of being far away from other people as the ideal way to live (the “American Dream”) come from?

I have to admit, the first time we drove in Bradburn I was a little taken aback by the smaller lots and how close the houses were to each other because I was so used to seeing the suburban standard.  Interestingly enough, we originally bought in here because of the architecture and because of the walkable, mixed-use aspect.  I didn’t consider neighborhood friendliness at all at the time, but after living here for 4 years, my neighbors are by far the best thing about the neighborhood.  Knowing your neighbors well has so many benefits and is to me, the largest part of what makes Bradburn special. 

Stapleton and Bradburn Village are pretty similar.  Both are new urbanist neighborhoods, mixed-use, walkable with lots of parks.  When we were looking to move to Denver from Fort Collins, we went to look in Stapleton.  There were three main reasons we picked Bradburn over Stapleton and in order they were 1. Location (Stapleton wasn’t close enough to Boulder for us) 2. Price.  The same home in Stapleton (I mean exactly the same house, New Town Builders builds in both neighborhoods) was $60,000 more than in Bradburn. 3. The neighborhoods surrounding Stapleton.

I’m embarrassed to admit #3 but it’s the truth.  Stapleton used to be the airport for Denver and as a result, all the neighborhoods directly bordering it aren’t the nicest ones in Denver (they are far, far away from “bad” neighborhoods that other cities have though).  I was worried about crime and the state of the public schools mostly.  I have a neighbor here in Bradburn who moved from Stapleton so I asked her about crime.  She said crime had been increasing in Stapleton (no idea if that’s actually the case but it was her perception), lots of car theft, break-ins (cars, not homes), and vandalism.  Then I read the morning about a fatal car jacking in Stapleton which was a real downer.  There are have been three car jacking attempts apparently in this same area very recently.  So does this mean I was right to worry about higher crime in Stapleton?  Yes and No.

Crime statistics for Denver do in fact show a lot more crime in Stapleton than in my area, but it’s still not something I think anyone who lives in Stapleton really needs to worry about, even with the recent car jacking and I’ll tell you why.  Those kinds of things can happen anywhere in a metro area, and they are rare.  We’ve had 3 cars stolen from Bradburn in the last 4 years that I know of and some car break-ins and garages thefts.  Even in the suburbs you will get crime if you live in an area that has people in it.  Stapleton is in an area with greater density than Bradburn so it stands to reason greater density itself will equal a coorresponding increase in crime. However, people don’t really think that way.  I’m wondering if people in Stapleton will see the headlines about the shooting and be looking to move to a more suburban area because of it, I hope not as I think Stapleton is an excellent neighborhood and is safe.  

There’s 100 plus people in this photo of our new urbanist

neighborhood’s July 4th parade this year, amazingly none of them are actors!

My new urbanist neighborhood is a real place full of real people with real lives.  Our lives are not any less authentic than those of people living in “real” urban areas.  My life and the lives of my family and neighbors are not less authentic because our neighborhood doesn’t mix beautiful historic homes next to falling down crap shacks.  We are not less real because we don’t see grafitti and homeless people every day.  I am sick of “real” urban hipsters saying people in new urbanist neighborhoods are shallow for wanting a new home in a mixed-use neighborhood with good schools instead of living in the “real” gritty city and living an “authentic” life.

I like cities and I like city living.  Denver especially is a great city with many wonderful city neighborhoods but, I don’t want to live in them at the moment.  First, I can’t afford to.  Suburbs are cheaper than the city core at least in Denver and by a significant amount.  For what I paid for my brand new 2400 sq foot house, I could get an old 1200 sq foot bungalow in need of major repairs in one of Denver’s city neighborhoods.

The people who accuse new urbanist neighborhoods of being fake, well every neighborhood was new at one time–even your historic neighborhood.  I’ve read multiple articles written by urban dwellers–most, I’m sure who do not have children–asking why would anyone want the “fake” thing when you can get the “real” thing like them?  Because not everyone wants to live in the city, and they should be able to have the benefits of urbanism (walkable, mixed-use) if they want to live in the suburbs in a new house with great public schools.  Have a kid and then look at the schools in your urban area and then ponder your question of real versus fake again, your perspective will change believe me. 

Man did I get a kick out of this letter and answer on Salon.  It’s an advice column, and the advisor is surprisingly with-it in regards to new urbanism.  The comments section is amusing, most people have little or no sympathy for what they see as a rich dude bitching, but it just illustrates how many people really don’t get it–they don’t think about or understand how much our daily environment affects us.  I of course, also wrote a letter.

Then the infamous Gawker picked up on it, saying the advisor suggested the advisee move to “Fantasy Land“.  Guess what Gawker?  I live there, and it may be a fantasy, but it’s not imgainary.  Look it up–Bradburn Village in Westminster, Colorado–and yeah it rocks, so stick that in your cap and go back to hating everything (which is admittedly why I like you!).

Humans.  We’re an interesting lot.  No other one species in the history of the Earth has dominated it like we have.  Why is this?  Humans are the most socially adept animals in Earth’s history—we combine intelligence, tool-making, the ability to cooperate, and the ability to pass down information from one group or generation to the next.  We survived and prospered because we are social.  As a result, deep down in each one of us is the evolutionary need to belong, to be connected to other people.

The author of a new book, The Geography of Bliss, travelled to different places to see what makes people happy.  The short version?  Other people. Places that have great senses of community are the happiest.  This makes total sense to me of course because it supports my own personal experience.

I was sitting in one of my neighborhood parks the other day, just hanging out.  I’d spoken to, geeze, I don’t know, probably 7 different neighbors I knew in the prior hour on my walk around the neighborhood.  People I knew were everywhere, walking dogs, riding bikes, etc.. I know all these neighbors because the design of Bradburn Village facilitates easy social interaction.  I heaved a big sigh of contentment and I realized why: This is my place. This is where I truly feel I belong, I have a strong connection to this place as a result of my connections to my neighbors. Some of those connections are casual–the “Hi” variety–others are now close friendships.   Do I think this sense of connection can occur in a non new (or old) urbanist neighborhood?  Yes, of course, but I bet it’s harder. 

There’s this idea, put forth first by the famous urban commentator, Jane Jacobs, of “eyes on the street”, in other words, lots of people around the neighborhood all the time keeping an eye on things reduces crime.  New urbanist planners promote this as one of the benefits of new urbanist neighborhood design, and I can comment with some authority that in my new urbanist neighborhood at least, it works.  There is one specific example I can think of, but many others have happened.  

We have a central park, called Bradburn Green, which has a large concrete patio and large concrete planters.  This feature attracts skateboarders, and while I think skateboarding is fun and great exercise, we don’t allow skateboarding in our park for liability and damage concerns; there’s a great skate park less than a mile from my neighborhood and the kids can go there.  Last summer there was a small group of idle teenagers that found our neighborhood park, decided to take it upon themselves to remove the “No Skateboarding” sign, and to proceed to grind the edges of our concrete planters causing significant (and expensive) damage. 

This occurred a total of three times.  The reason it didn’t occur more?  They were there in the middle of the day the first day and I saw them and so did other neighbors.  One neighbor went over to speak to them and tell them we don’t allow skateboarding, and they called her a bitch in front of her small children.  So we called the cops, (who showed up in about 10 minutes) but they had left.  The next day they showed up again, same time.  Two other neighbors harangued them about the second they got there.  Next day, they showed up again, same time.  This time one of the neighbors who lives across the park went over to speak with them and said,

“Many people in this neighborhood work at home or are at home during the day.  Everyone knows about you and the damage you are causing and will call the police if you are seen here again. You are never going to be in this park for more than 10 minutes without someone noticing.  I suggest you find somewhere else to skateboard.  We are always watching”.

We’ve never seen them again.

I have a strong belief in the strength of human ingenuity, so I’m convinced that we will eventually develop a totally green car.  One you can plug into your high efficiency home solar grid every night and charge, or a safe and practical hydrogen car, or etc.. etc.. Once we do this, will that mean people won’t want to live in walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods anymore?  Will they want to go back to sprawling homes on huge lots separated from their neighbors, because as the developers (and libertarians for some reason) have been crowing for the past twenty or so years: this is what the market wants!  People won’t buy anything else, families don’t want walkable neighborhoods they want an acre of grass! (the fact that it’s the cheapest and easiest way to develop neighborhoods of course has nothing to do with it right?).  And if gas prices and pollution aren’t a concern anymore, people will want to drive for every single little thing so they don’t have to see their neighbors. Ever.

The answer to the titular question is without a doubt, no.  The fact is: I hate driving and I hate time sucking traffic jams and so do most other people (at least the traffic jam part).  Green cars won’t solve that problem. When I talk to my neighbors and ask them why they chose to move to our new urbanist neighborhood, most people say they liked the style of homes in here, they wanted to be able to drive less if they wanted to, and they wanted a real community where neighbors are friendly and social.  When I ask most people if they are concerned about their carbon footprint most are after some fashion, but it’s not the reason they bought here.   People like to walk, it’s enjoyable and great exercise and makes the neighborhood energetic and vital all the time.  I don’t think most people walk because it’s greener (although I’m sure some do, or they at least consider that a benefit), they walk because they like to, and new urbanist communities are very pleasant places to do it.  

Three years ago when I first moved down to Denver, I went looking for a dentist as I hadn’t been in some time.  I looked up the providers my dental insurance covered and picked a female dentist that practiced close to my home.  I went to this dentist who told me I needed 3 new crowns, and 7 fillings.  She said it would take around 6 hours to do all that work and said she could offer me sedation for the long time it would take.  I was upset when I came home from that appointment, but I was also something else: skeptical. 

One of the crowns this dentist said I needed was a replacement for a crown I’d had put in two years prior,  so I looked it up (which I do with EVERYTHING).  Dr. Google said crowns usually last at least 10 years, and can last a lifetime.  This got me thinking: how do I know anything she told me is actually the case?  She could make up whatever she wanted about my teeth and just assume I would trust it since she was the trained dentist and I wasn’t.  With me of course, this is dead, dead wrong–I require proof for everything.  So I made an appointment with my old, trusted dentist in Fort Collins and drove up there to have him take a look at my teeth.  Guess what he said?  I didn’t need any work.  None. At. All.

This turn of events deeply shocked and depressed me.  What was more concerning however, was the fact that this dishonest dentist had her wall lined with pictures of the Medicaid kids she treated: how many of those kids got dental work they didn’t need so she could make a buck?  I reported her to the American Dental Association, but I’m sure they didn’t do anything about it.  I haven’t been back to a dentist since.

Recently a new dentist opened in my neighborhood.  Their office is a 5 minute walk from my home.  Multiple neighbors have gone and all have spoken highly of this dentist, so I decided to make an appointment.  When I was on the phone with the receptionist, I gave her my name and we were working out the details of the appointment when she said “Oh, hold on a second, he wants to speak to you”.  The dentist then got on the line. “Hi, I’m Dr. “X” and I recognized your name from [my neighborhood’s] internet board, I just wanted to introduce myself”.  I thought this was really nice and thoughtful, but I also realized something else: this person knows I know everyone in my neighborhood.  They also therefore know if they try to pull any crap like the last dentist I visited that I will tell everyone in my neighborhood and they will lose significant business.  I currently don’t have dental insurance so will be paying cash, but the social capital in my neighborhood is covering something much more important to me: piece of mind.