Best Development Practices: Doing the Right Thing and Making Money at the Same Time

by Reid Ewing with MaryBeth DeAnna, Christine C. Heflin, and Douglas R. Porter; published by Planners Press, American Planning Association, 122 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 1600, Chicago, IL 60603. 1996, paperback, 178 pages, $42.95 + $8 S&H.

Best Development Practices provides the best in ideas about what makes communities work, grounded in a series of exemplary working communities. It represents an effort in Florida to go beyond the traditional regulatory approach to sprawl control and growth management by providing voluntary guidelines that can help developers do much better than the legal minimum. These guidelines are, according to the authors, the only such principles endorsed by a state government, and in fact the State of Florida claims a copyright on the text.

In seeking exemplary communities on which to base this document, the authors compiled a short list of criteria: market success, shopping and recreational opportunities, environmen- tal themes, “affordable” housing with amenities, road connections, and street life. After extensive investigations, they found seven master-planned communities in Florida that met their standards on these six counts. To these seven communities they add five traditional towns that represent vibrant, pedestrian-friendly communities. The twelve examples serve as case studies which provide effective examples throughout the text.

The bulk of the text is in the form of four checklists, each well-illustrated, explained, and extensively footnoted: Best Land Use Practices; Best Transportation Practices; Best Environmental Practices; and Best Housing Practices. Background research is cited documenting the benefits of nearly every item. The citations in the footnotes and appendices alone are well worth the price of this book for anyone studying alternatives to sprawl development. The weakest aspect of the book is its design—a leap of faith is required to see beyond the weak layout and dive into the superb content.