There was a time when American cities offered everything their residents needed: housing, commerce and green space where residents could gather for recreational activities and shared community endeavors. After World War II though, when, a half-acre lawn and a two-car garage became the ideal, the American Dream packed up and headed for the suburbs.

A movement has been afoot in recent years, however, to reinvent the close-knit, interactive neighborhood of times gone by. Called “new urbanism,” its goal is to create “livable communities” that include both commercial and residential space, are pedestrian-friendly and foster a sense of fellowship and public spirit among its inhabitants.

While new livable communities have proved successful in other areas, urban renewal is more prevalent in the Capital Region. Part of the reason, said Richard Eats, a landscape architect with Synthesis Architects, LLP in Schenectady, is that cities are more apt than suburban communities to review and approve new urbanism projects because they are more familiar with the concept of community living and because development is something cities generally want.

Synthesis is the firm responsible for the renovation of Jay Street in Schenectady, which Eats said has brought merchants to the area and served as a catalyst for similar development on State Street near Proctor's Theatre and the city's government center.

He said a key to the success of the Jay Street project was the input of area residents and business owners, who were encouraged to participate in the development of the space to make it more usable and friendly.

Architect John Senisi, another partner in Synthesis, emphasized that the public has had a very positive response to the changes on Jay Street, as evidenced by return of pedestrians to the area and the resurgence of neighborhood festivals and cultural events such as a series of Jazz on Jay Street concerts.

“It has an important effect on people's image of the city,” Senisi said. “The city needs to do more of these kinds of projects.”

Synthesis' Senisi also sees a fundamental flaw in the plans for most new livable communities. He said that although planned communities cater to good design, they regulate out diversity. He pointed to Celebration, Florida, an example of new urbanism established by the Walt Disney Co. in 1994, and touted as a return to a traditional small-town lifestyle.

“Celebration is starting to crumble,” Senisi said. “People are not as happy there as they thought they'd be. A lot of these planned communities are like plastic villages. The key to a livable community is diversity.”

New urbanism comes with a price and the cost of renovating existing spaces is not necessarily higher than building new. Richard Eats, landscape architect at Synthesis Architects, maintained that a higher density of development brings in more people, thereby absorbing some of the added costs associated with a livable community.

Senisi conceded, though, that designing a livable community presents challenges that suburban developers do not face. To begin with, he said, there are more variables to take into consideration: tall buildings, aging masonry and the need to create parking space. And, whereas suburban design is destination-oriented and meant for automobile travel, city spaces must be configured for pedestrian use.

This means that streetscapes have to include trees, lights and curbs, all of which add to the cost of a project. He calls it “a more intense, more vibrant design standard.”

In order to achieve that standard, Senisi said, he approaches each space as a room. The walls of the buildings can be viewed as the walls of the room, the street serves as the floor, and design elements like trees, benches and street lamps are the equivalent of a room's ornamentation.

The height of the buildings form an implied ceiling, with three or four stories being ideal for a livable community. By working with the unique character of each “room', Senisi said he is able to design spaces that have a friendly, welcoming feel. He also stresses the importance of lighting, saying that he recommends the use of metal halide lights that produce a bright white light. Although they do not actually produce more light than traditional street lamps, he said, the illumination they generate seems more like daylight, resulting in a cozy space versus a yellow, dingy space.

“A lot of it is psychological,” he said.

Although Synthesis also designs commercial space, Senisi said it is a much different process because very few commercial buildings are not developer-driven. On a whole, developers are less concerned with the concept of livable space, and their priorities often are different from the needs of the end user. As a result, he said the design of community spaces represents a balancing act to meet the needs of both the owner and the user.”