Colonial old towns are monuments to our nation’s origins, an antiquated period in America in which planning involved concepts such as how to provide lumber to shipyards. The idea of infrastructure, access, and congestion were irrelevant in comparison to proximity to waterways. People who traveled between towns embarked, instead of commuted, on trips between homesteads or agricultural lands and the commercial hearts of a region. Internal infrastructure was unnecessary because within the “old town” activities rarely needed anything other than two feet and maybe some sweat on your brow.
History
This 4th grade social studies imagery repeated itself up and down our original 13 colonies from Nantucket to Alexandria to Savannah. As old towns evolved into industrial epicenters an interesting evolution in priorities took place; the pedestrian gave way to the transport. Thoroughfares became necessary to bring in heavy goods; shipyards expanded at times creating blockades to residents from the water front. The ability to live within the town became more difficult and began a slow push away from the focal point of the old town, the waterfront, and to the outer rings where commerce was close enough to be delivered goods but far enough to remain viable and non-industrial neighborhoods for residents.
The post industrial age was the final nail in the coffin of the old town model as the remaining businesses of the old town now drew commuters from outside of the town via higher speed transportation. Unlike in Europe these old towns gave way to the interstate which connected former commercial centers but required new infrastructure within the centers to accommodate vehicles.
Commuters wanted direct access to their final destinations and the conveniences of the modern age. This became the contradiction that could no longer sustain the new business model in old towns; either provide new infrastructure and kill the fabric of its history or stagnate growth and push away business. The ones who were hurt the most were the service industries which relied on a population of residents and businesses in town.
Application
There is a way forward if we return to the concepts of old towns, not just for preserving but for areas where growth is being encouraged. What you might not realize is the resurgence isn’t because of the colonial candle making stores, it is because of the ease of life for people to live in these areas.
Today there are several examples of old towns which are returning to prosperity via the application of multiple transportation options in reducing the amount of pavement and parking needed. By giving both commuters, visitors, and residents multiple ways to get around they are provided with options as to their path of least resistance.
Parking spaces aren’t free. If they are surface parking they use up space which could otherwise be developed (consider the idea that a parking space is the same size as a bedroom or an office). If they are structurally located parking it can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000 per space. Applying this cost the user recoups the investment, provides a good revenue source towards beautification projects, and evens the playing field for other modes of transportation.- Stop worrying about big infrastructure and start improving cheap and smaller infrastructure internal to the town. For the same cost of just repaving 1 mile of a 6 lane road an entire block of pedestrian prioritized infrastructure can be constructed. For the same cost as adding 1-lane in each direction to a 10-mile long road (often measured in hundreds of millions), an entire towns pedestrian and bike network can be constructed and maintained for 20 years.
- Use space more efficiently. The further you spread things out, the more the fabric of the old town model is torn apart. Pedestrian travel must be the primary design element, and therefore creating unnecessary additional travel distances between points of interest should be avoided (even at the cost of modern amenities like recreation fields, ceremonial lawns, etc). The town is your activity, just look at Founders Park in Alexandria. It is a great park, but at any given time it is far less occupied than the bustling retail corridors and pedestrian friendly streets of the town itself.
- Without the handcuffs of massive infrastructure costs created by non-human scale planning the need for private funding is drastically reduced. Instead of needing billions of dollars you now only need millions of dollars over the course of many decades. High rises are no longer necessary for private investment to make back a profit in order to offset obligated funding to the jurisdiction. The scale of the old town can work hand in hand with private development.
In part two we will discuss how the old town concept can be implemented into modern urban design including spacial layout of infrastructure, density allowances that spur private investment, and human scaling.