A NEW URBANIST PROJECT
The Design Code for VICINIA is developed around the Transect, a system of land classifications described in The Lexicon of the New Urbanism, which incorporates a fine-grained network of lot distinctions. These characteristics follow the natural internal structure of an traditional neighborhood and serve to create the structure of the community of VICINIA. This structure is expressed as three urban sectors: Urban Center (T5), General Urban zone (T4) and Reserve/Preserve.
The Urban Center Zone (T5) is the focus of the neighborhood’s civic buildings and social activity. It incorporates retail, workplaces, and more dense residential units, and it connects directly to other parts of the neighborhood through a network of carefully designed vehicular and pedestrian thoroughfares. As such, it is the densest graining of land subdivision in the neighborhood. The streets are generally designed with formalized on-street parking characterized by avenues and main streets. Buildings placed either at or near the right-of-way line further reinforce the streets edge and public character.
The General Urban Zone (T4) is that element of the Transect which focuses principally on residential use with a minimum of other potential uses. Streets and boulevards generally characterize the thoroughfare makeup within the General Urban Zone.
The spreadsheet on the following pages forms a block-by-block analysis of VICINIA. Each block, identified in the diagram to the left, corresponds to a row in the adjacent spreadsheet. Among other information, the spreadsheet provides an overall block area, building footprint area, an approximate residential unit count, and an estimate for the available retail area.
VICINIA is about a great new place. A place envisioned as sensitive to its distinctive indigenous Texas context. A place that encourages mobility without dependence solely on the automobile. A place inhabited by a diverse social, economic, and age varied citizenry. A place to be experienced. A place that relies on a new paradigm, built essentially from scratch.
The village is circumscribed by six-character districts, each with its own distinct architecture and character defined in a distinct color palette, materials, smells, sounds, and interactions.
Based on the T4 and T5 context classifications, transportation facilities are planned to help achieve the mixed-use, walkable patterns essential to the TOD community vision. The function of these streets goes beyond the typical suburban arterial and collector streets, which emphasize vehicle mobility and land access, respectively. Both mobility and access are vital to all streets in the VICINIA TOD.
Mobility for all modes is the fundamental design assumption. Pedestrian, bicycle, and transit modes are as vital as motor vehicle movement. Generous sidewalks, narrow lanes, curbside parking, street trees and build-to lines for structures are all important to achieving greater walkability, primarily through vehicular speed management. Although the Boulevards and Commercial Streets are larger than the Streets, Yield Streets and Lanes, all streets are almost equal in their functions of providing mobility and access.
