Developments of tomorrow look like yesteryear

Cars, cheap fuel and an abundance of land got us where we are today.

We've still got the cars, says Paul Curtis, president of Truckee-based Ryten Properties, LLC.

But the cheap fuel and abundant land are dwindling, and that shrinkage causes people to look back, past the recent history of wide freeways and fat-tired trucks, back to the days when towns had centers and people went on evening strolls.

Yesteryear.

Developers are responding with sites and master-planned communities that attempt to recreate the quieter, friendlier streets of old.

"Our needs are not dissimilar to what we desired in yesteryear," says Curtis,who is master- planning the development of Kiley Ranch North, an 808-acre residential and business community in Spanish Springs."So the focus is not on yesteryear, but on tomorrow."

And on answering the needs of tomorrow.

Carol Kiel, sales and marketing manager for Syncon Homes, which is developing a 50- home Minden Village site, adds that the yesteryear quality of Minden Village, too, is an attempt to capture the feeling of what the community has always been about.And that is community cohesiveness, she says.

"Neighbor helping neighbor." It's all in the feeling, but the feeling is created by tangible substances wood frames, sod lawns, garages and streets.

The cost of such a design, says Curtis, involves some upfront infrastructure investment for residential sites.

And there's some reduction in yield coverage on the commercial sites, says Kevin Coleman, owner of Net Development Company/K&S Properties, a California-based company that develops between 500,000 and 1 million square feet of commercial properties per year.

Much of the yesteryear discussion revolves around garages.

In the design of Minden Village, says Coleman, garages are in the alleys and front doors face each other.

De-emphasizing transportation is key, adds Curtis.At Kiley Ranch North many of the garages are in the back; some streets have alleys.

The big, blank face of a garage door is taken off the street.

People walk out front doors and, presumably, run into neighbors also walking about.

A pedestrian-oriented community requires thought about internal connectivity pedestrian trails, connected paths, people- friendly streets, and links to areas outside the development.

Safety and fire department requirements come into play, too, says Curtis.Yesteryear's tree-lined streets meander though the community.

But those streets must also be wide and straight enough to accommodate firefighting equipment.

"The whole process is a constant effort to compromise to make it a community," says Curtis.

Infrastructure costs are an upfront investment.

And does it pay off? It's not quantifiable, but Curtis says the yesteryear design effort makes for an attractive development, therefore creating demand."So, typically, the well-planned community is at a premium," he says.

People pay more to live there.

In its later phases, Kiley Ranch North is slated to have some light industrial areas and a school, along with commercial and retail workplaces.As planned, it will be a small town in which people can work as well as live.

That separate, small-town concept is part, too, of the answer to sprawl and the diminishing supply of fuel, according to Curtis.

It adds fewer people to the morning commute south into Reno and Sparks.

Minden Village also attempts to bring back the village concept with walkways and a town center layout.

The greatest compliment he gets, says developer Coleman, is when someone tells him that Minden Village doesn't feel like a shopping center at all.

Minden Village, set for March 2005 completion, is a 90,000-square-foot commercial center, already fully leased or sold at this point.

"It's a village center," Coleman says, not just another strip mall.

Walkways are key in creating such a center, says Coleman.

Residents of the neighboring areas can walk to the center, and those that drive in can park once and browse, stroll, or go directly in the front door of the desired retailer.

Parking winds through the center.

He estimates that his land coverage is in the 22 percent range and he could have fit another 10,000 to 15,000 square feet on the acreage."But it would have been crowded," he says.

Not the village or yesteryear effect he was after.

And what's the profit in giving up square footage for development aesthetics? "What comes out of it is a good night's sleep," says Coleman.And, on the ledger side, "You don't have empty big boxes and strip centers."