You can help us raise funds for a new website to more efficiently protect water quality, natural areas, wildlife and working farmland near you. Our new website will help planners preserve land in your community. The most important reason we are building a new website is to make it easier for you, the user, to [...]
I’m excited to read the new book, Envisioning Better Communities (PDF), by noted planner Randall Arendt. (Full disclosure: Randall Arendt is a dedicated member of LandChoices. I am a big fan.) I have not received the book yet so I have not had a chance to read it, but want to share the following information I located on [...]
This is a short video we created to promote natural neighborhoods, our new alternate name for “conservation subdivisions“. Please share this video by clicking on the “Share/Save” button below to help spread the word. Image courtesy Randall Arendt, Conservation Design for Subdivisions, Island Press, 1996. Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com. //
This is a terrific overview of open space development, known also as “conservation subdivision” or “conservation development”. Open Space Residential Development: Four Case Studies (PDF) is a must read if you want to learn more about open space developments. The study offers a profile, financing, comparison site plans, photos, home value and appreciation, by laws, open [...]
The Louisville Metro Planning Commission and Louisville Metro Council offer information about and list the advantages of conservation subdivisions. In their fact sheet, ”The Economic Benefits of Conservation Subdivisions” (PDF), under the category “Reduced Infrastructure”, they state, “Reduced street costs are sometimes another benefit. In Pleasant View TN, Randall Arendt recently redesigned an 86-lot subdivision in [...]
The benefits of conservation design for subdivisions, also known as “conservation subdivision design”, are many. Conservation subdivisions offer the following benefits: Conservation subdivisions preserve *50% to 70% or more of the buildable land. Conservation subdivisions preserve a much higher quality and percentage of land than “clustering“. Protect clean water in lakes and rivers by eliminating [...]
I’m sorry, but I have to refer to most monster homes as “ugly McMansions”. Their large roofs and hard packed, manicured and fertilized lawns contribute greatly to storm water run off, polluting lakes, rivers and streams. The article, “Days of McMansions dwindle as builders seek to economize“, in The Detroit News, suggests that McMansions are [...]
We are happy to announce that LandChoices is part of two Public Television programs put together by the nonprofit group 10,000 Friends of Minnesota. The two programs, “Land Matters – Smarter Subdivisions” and “Land Matters – Rethinking Main Street”, are airing on Twin Cities Public Television in Minnesota in 2010 and feature video footage from LandChoices [...]
Serenbe is a conservation community (conservation development) near Atlanta, Georgia. This video tells the story of how Serenbe was started. //
The video is a bit shaky and you’ll need to turn your audio up, but I was thrilled to discover an architect who is not simply stamping out beige McMansions. In the video, noted architect and author Russell Versaci gave a talk as part of Charlottesville’s Design Week on his new book Roots of Home. After [...]
