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Exploring the bumper crop of subdivisions
Witold Rybczynski's new book Last Harvest follows one patch of land from cornfield to commuter community
DEREK RAYMAKER
May 25, 2007
If you live much north of Eglinton Avenue, it's a pretty sure bet that you're living on land that was productive agricultural land only a generation ago.
In parts of Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Markham, Brampton, Mississauga and Milton, some subdivision plots were home to tractors and livestock in the past few years. In some cases, the men and women who worked this land for generations became rich beyond their wildest dreams when their land was snapped up by low-rise housing developers or land speculators for tens of thousands of dollars an acre.
In other cases, their windfall may have just got them out of debt after years of declining farm revenue, and allowed them a modest retirement.
Rapid urban growth and the stubborn desire for quaint low-rise housing has transformed pastoral rural scenes throughout North America, not just Greater Toronto.
The gabled roofs that pop up on these fields where cows and corn once held sway are called the "last harvest" by the more sardonic landowners, a phrase borrowed by Witold Rybczynski's for the title of his latest exploration of how North Americans choose to nest.
In Last Harvest: How a Cornfield became New Daleville (Scribner, 2007), the former McGill architecture professor who now teaches at the University of Pennsylvania school of design, explores the transformation of a cornfield in Chester County, 40 kilometres west of Philadelphia, into an iconic, family friendly housing development loyal to the latest trends of new urbanism. The making of this new community of small lots, pedestrian-friendly layouts and a strong commercial component, serves as an allegory for the history of real estate development in America since the 18th century.
That history can be summed up as high-risk, high-reward, and dependent on the fickle tastes and optimism of home buyers.
Toronto real estate developers, often held in low esteem in media and political circles, will be pleased to know that Mr. Rybczynski views them in glowing terms. It is the county planning commissions, imposing zoning ordinances aimed at creating communities attractive to affluent home buyers seeking isolation, he writes, that should really be reined in.
Mr. Rybczynski's previous books, The Perfect House and A Clearing in the Distance, closely analyzed the process of creating environments for living, both now and throughout history. Last Harvest continues that, but also dives into the psyche of the modern new-home buyer and how developers vie for his attention: "The schizophrenic house buyer is both a status seeker and an investor. In addition, he or she is a consumer. Renovating a kitchen, for example, is done with one eye on convenience and one eye on resale, as well as a glance at the attractive advertisements in the latest issue of House & Garden. The house buyer is not immune to fashion," he writes.
As Mr. Rybczynski follows developer Joe Duckworth down the slippery path of developing New Daleville into a 125-home community between 2003 and 2006, we also witness the simultaneous implosion of the U.S. housing market that severely affects sales efforts and forces a cut in prices.
The main concepts of new urbanism are essentially a reaction against suburban sprawl, creating neighbourhoods in which housing is integrated into human-scale commercial zones, and where large backyards are sacrificed in favour of large parks and pedestrian features.
Unfortunately, these principles faced a hostile reception in Chester County. New Daleville, with its emphasis on neo-traditional, peaked-roof designs, was considered a little too small and isolated to lure in commuters when compared to a neighbouring traditional large-lot subdivision. The developer of that project, Country Walk, added the petty indignity of refusing to connect its roads with New Daleville's.
Mr. Rybczynski is not convinced that we have seen the last of the sprawling subdivisions, mostly because home buyers throughout North America still prefer rambling space to call their own.
Some municipalities in Toronto's suburban 905 ring, particularly Markham, have embraced new urbanism planning principles, and after a lot of arm-twisting and incentives, have convinced developers to move toward higher-density, mixed-use communities. These last harvests have been particularly bountiful thanks to their larger scales, proximity to regional transit and the rapid price hikes in traditional single-detached homes, elements that seemed to hold New Daleville back from instant success.
There are a lot of parallels between the housing pressures in Chester County and York and Halton Regions, and they're easy to identify in Last Harvest. Anybody who thinks that developing a successful suburban community based on new urbanist principles is a slam dunk will find it illuminating.
draymaker@globeandmail.com
LAST HARVEST
The schizophrenic house buyer is both a status seeker and an investor.
In addition, he or she
is a consumer. Renovating a kitchen, for example,
is done with one eye on convenience and one eye on resale, as well as
a glance at the attractive advertisements in the latest issue of House
& Garden. The house buyer is not immune
to fashion.
From Last Harvest
Exploring the bumper crop of subdivisions
Witold Rybczynski's new book Last Harvest follows one patch of land from cornfield to commuter community
DEREK RAYMAKER
May 25, 2007
If you live much north of Eglinton Avenue, it's a pretty sure bet that you're living on land that was productive agricultural land only a generation ago.
In parts of Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Markham, Brampton, Mississauga and Milton, some subdivision plots were home to tractors and livestock in the past few years. In some cases, the men and women who worked this land for generations became rich beyond their wildest dreams when their land was snapped up by low-rise housing developers or land speculators for tens of thousands of dollars an acre.
In other cases, their windfall may have just got them out of debt after years of declining farm revenue, and allowed them a modest retirement.
Rapid urban growth and the stubborn desire for quaint low-rise housing has transformed pastoral rural scenes throughout North America, not just Greater Toronto.
The gabled roofs that pop up on these fields where cows and corn once held sway are called the "last harvest" by the more sardonic landowners, a phrase borrowed by Witold Rybczynski's for the title of his latest exploration of how North Americans choose to nest.
In Last Harvest: How a Cornfield became New Daleville (Scribner, 2007), the former McGill architecture professor who now teaches at the University of Pennsylvania school of design, explores the transformation of a cornfield in Chester County, 40 kilometres west of Philadelphia, into an iconic, family friendly housing development loyal to the latest trends of new urbanism. The making of this new community of small lots, pedestrian-friendly layouts and a strong commercial component, serves as an allegory for the history of real estate development in America since the 18th century.
That history can be summed up as high-risk, high-reward, and dependent on the fickle tastes and optimism of home buyers.
Toronto real estate developers, often held in low esteem in media and political circles, will be pleased to know that Mr. Rybczynski views them in glowing terms. It is the county planning commissions, imposing zoning ordinances aimed at creating communities attractive to affluent home buyers seeking isolation, he writes, that should really be reined in.
Mr. Rybczynski's previous books, The Perfect House and A Clearing in the Distance, closely analyzed the process of creating environments for living, both now and throughout history. Last Harvest continues that, but also dives into the psyche of the modern new-home buyer and how developers vie for his attention: "The schizophrenic house buyer is both a status seeker and an investor. In addition, he or she is a consumer. Renovating a kitchen, for example, is done with one eye on convenience and one eye on resale, as well as a glance at the attractive advertisements in the latest issue of House & Garden. The house buyer is not immune to fashion," he writes.
As Mr. Rybczynski follows developer Joe Duckworth down the slippery path of developing New Daleville into a 125-home community between 2003 and 2006, we also witness the simultaneous implosion of the U.S. housing market that severely affects sales efforts and forces a cut in prices.
The main concepts of new urbanism are essentially a reaction against suburban sprawl, creating neighbourhoods in which housing is integrated into human-scale commercial zones, and where large backyards are sacrificed in favour of large parks and pedestrian features.
Unfortunately, these principles faced a hostile reception in Chester County. New Daleville, with its emphasis on neo-traditional, peaked-roof designs, was considered a little too small and isolated to lure in commuters when compared to a neighbouring traditional large-lot subdivision. The developer of that project, Country Walk, added the petty indignity of refusing to connect its roads with New Daleville's.
Mr. Rybczynski is not convinced that we have seen the last of the sprawling subdivisions, mostly because home buyers throughout North America still prefer rambling space to call their own.
Some municipalities in Toronto's suburban 905 ring, particularly Markham, have embraced new urbanism planning principles, and after a lot of arm-twisting and incentives, have convinced developers to move toward higher-density, mixed-use communities. These last harvests have been particularly bountiful thanks to their larger scales, proximity to regional transit and the rapid price hikes in traditional single-detached homes, elements that seemed to hold New Daleville back from instant success.
There are a lot of parallels between the housing pressures in Chester County and York and Halton Regions, and they're easy to identify in Last Harvest. Anybody who thinks that developing a successful suburban community based on new urbanist principles is a slam dunk will find it illuminating.
draymaker@globeandmail.com
LAST HARVEST
The schizophrenic house buyer is both a status seeker and an investor.
In addition, he or she
is a consumer. Renovating a kitchen, for example,
is done with one eye on convenience and one eye on resale, as well as
a glance at the attractive advertisements in the latest issue of House
& Garden. The house buyer is not immune
to fashion.
From Last Harvest
