The Boston Globe reports on the resurgence of what was once a common phenomenon in New England: housing above commercial and retail. Many smaller communities with ailing downtowns are looking to housing above underutilized structures in town centers. A real estate developer in New Bedford: "If you want safety and life in a downtown, then the best strategy is to keep the lights on at night."
Next we go West to Durango, Colo., where a new comprehensive plan pushes multi-modal transportation and LEED-certified buildings, as reported by the Durango Herald.
The Front Range may sometimes look askance at our neighbors on the Western Slope, but the Denver Post reported this week that mountain and Western Slope counties are experiencing double-digit annual appreciation in median home values. Meanwhile, some counties like Adams have been in the red.
John Rebchook writes about Commonwealth Heights in the West Village of RidgeGate and its planner/developer, Keith Simon, vice president of RidgeGate Community Development and director of Coventry Development Corp. I've always wondered why they didn't build this type of Main Street development -- or at least some small-scale retail to complement the SuperTarget -- relatively earlier. The longtime owner of the property is a reclusive shipping family from Greece, as described in a 2005 article published in High Country News, a Paonia, Colo.-based semimonthly publication covering green issues in the West. The article strikes a hopeful, yet tempered tone about New Urbanism and transit-oriented development in Denver Metro, pointing out that light rail won't extend to RidgeGate for another decade and that the property's Greek ownership is envisioning buildout in 2060.
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