Reaction to: The Town of The Lost Rabbit, MS

    The Town of the Lost Rabbit was a pleasant and eye-opening experience during my last visit to Jackson, Mississippi. The community is north of downtown Jackson and is relativity close to Madison, MS where shopping centers and restaurants are abundant. The drive to the Lost Rabbit from Madison followed a beautiful and winding two-lane road along the Ross B Barnett Reservoir. Flashy and grand homes line the left and right side of the road. It seemed that wealth increased farther down the road I got. 

    At the end of the line of houses was a quaint sign, "Welcome to the Town of the Lost Rabbit." The road narrowed and the speed slowed. Little gas lanterns hung from light posts to illuminate the winding and wooded road. I came upon the first set of houses and immediately felt the New Urbanist aura. Each house was perfectly positioned along the road in very close proximity to one another. I could feel the sense of population density in such a small area. Each house had a unique modern farmhouse style. White tones were accented with lime-washed brick or cedar-wood planks on the facades of each home. The streetscape was heavily layered with a narrower road, wide brick-paved sidewalks, lamposts, tree seedlings, grass, bushes, and a variety of flowers. Car parking seemed to be encouraged on the street to eliminate the need for driveways decreasing the distance between each unit. 

    

As I drove a bit farther, it became apparent the that construction of the Lost Rabbit was far from complete. The first section I drove through was definitely one of the first phases of construction. Further into the development, homes got larger, grander, and more custom. The monetary value of lots and homes also increased as I got closer to the Reservoir, private marina, town center, and pool. 

    Many houses were still under construction. Small sections were finished and occupied by residents and other sections of units were just breaking ground. It was fascinating to see the phasing of this type of development and understand the economic strategy with supply and demand in this type of desirable growing community. 

A section of new developments at The Lost Rabbit

    After driving around a bit and facing the consuming road layout, I came upon the "town center" positioned on the reservoir. This area had two blocks of taller, urban buildings. The buildings were mixed-use with mercantile on the first floor and residential apartment units on the second through fifth floors. On the ground floor, long porticos stretched the length of the building to facilitate movement to the retail entrances. In the center, there was a general store, a spa, a restaurant, a real estate office, an engineer's office, and a photography studio. Acrros the narrow street from the retail block was the private marina for the Lost Rabbit. Numerous slips had very nice boats lifted out of the water for the season. Down at the end of the marina, was the development's community pool. 

The Town of the Lost Rabbit Marina

    The houses facing the Reservoir resembled large coastal houses you'd see along the beaches of Florida or Lake Michigan. They were grand and tall and resembled a lot of wealth. Every car throughout the development also signified wealth. 

Waterfront Houses at the Lost Rabbit

    My general critique of what I experienced was a nice community. I thought that the concept was strong and appreciated the unique and custom design of each home. Where I was underwhelmed was the circulation of the project. To me, New Urbanist communities should be easily navigated both on foot and by car. The roads were windy and had large switchbacks and sharp acute angles. That part, to me, felt like somewhat of an afterthought. Another thing that I was displeased by was the abundance of construction. Yes, I understand that continued development will increase the value of the community and the atmosphere of the development, but I can't imagine living next to the newest section being developed. It also seemed like the development was empty. It was Saturday around lunchtime when I visited the Lost Rabbit. I was the only one walking around, and I was the only one down in the town center. It felt ghostly almost. 

    My last gripe about The Lost Rabbit was the lack of economic diversity throughout the development. The community seemed "exclusive" and "ritzy," and it didn't even need a gate at the entrance to do so. So I'm wondering if this is the common trend for New Urbanist communities? Does it take wealth to live in a well-planned and developed community? Is this just the common trend of New Urbanism? Why aren't these communities more accessible to the lower to lower-middle class?