Understanding the Challeneges and Reasonings of Developing for Community- Rybczynski and "The Last Harvest"

    "The Last Harvest: From Cornfield to New Town" by Withold Rybczinski is a rather long and nonlinear account of how a cornfield becomes a New Urbanist development. The book shares numerous precedent projects of New Urbanist developments that played a part in inspiring the developers for what would become New Daleville. A precedent used heavily in the book was Seaside by DPZ. 

    In addition to precedent studies, the book covers numerous topics and factors of developing a community unique to New Urbanism. Things like zoning history, early real estate negotiations, housing patterns, housing typologies, consumer preferences, and dominating trends are brought to reality throughout the book. The book's primary bulk and page count, however, comes from meeting accounts and information on redesign and marketing concerns. 

New Daleville Master Plan
 “New Daleville,” Arcadia Land Company, March 1, 2020, https://www.arcadialand.com/portfolio/new-daleville/.

    I first read "The Last Harvest: From Cornfield to New Town" after finishing my freshman year of architecture school and it had me shaking in my boots. The task of development was something that I was (am still am) interested in, but this book brought me up to speed quickly about the reality behind that. Obviously, I understood that developing a community takes years. What I didn't understand was how detail-oriented every step of the way was. 

    Honestly, at times it was difficult to make it through a long chapter about how one meeting impacted the next meeting referencing last month's meeting. Parts of the book were really dry, but that is the reality of it and that's what really happens. It was incredibly insightful, which is why I finished it. 

    I felt a bit cued into the true nitty-gritty of the process of development because this is the type of information that isn't written down anywhere. These conversations and problems that arise typically happen in the field with nothing to prepare you for them. Rybczinski accounted for them and explained them which is rare in the industry, and for that, I'm very grateful. 

    The book raises many questions about why planning to fight sprawl, encourage walkability, and promote community engagement is so much more difficult than creating a "cookie-cutter" neighborhood. Why is that when the "cookie cutter" has negative connotations? Why does zoning fight the necessary density needed to create a certain atmosphere?  If a lot is being developed for a neighborhood, why question how that is done or how many people live there? The same amount of land will be disrupted and the same amount of land will be used. 

    The book answers these questions through examples of community backlash. One of those examples was the necessary addition of a stop light that the town would have to make to accommodate more residents in the area. Another complaint was that the wear and tear on the infrastructure would also need to be fixed or repaired more often with more people and more cars. These complaints answered some of my questions, but I think they are stubborn and close-minded complaints not accept or understand how much a New Urbanist community would do for the town overall. Those folk also didn't comprehend the differences in types of communities and the benefits of a New Urbanist development.  

    Rybczinski also covers his opinions of suburbanization and sprawl using the term "scatteration" to critique current housing trends in suburbia. This brings to light the importance of going the extra step to challenge zoning to create New Urbanist developments. It makes all of the extra challenges, conversations, redesigns, and meetings worth something at a larger scale.