DPZ

The=20 Celebration Controversies

Celebration is perhaps the most prominent = and=20 certainly the most controversial of the second-generation New = Urbanist=20 communities. Along = with=20 Harbor Town, Kentlands, = Haile Plantation, Southern Village, Newpoint and Laguna West, Celebration = followed=20 Seaside by approximately eight years. They collectively offer=20 corrections to the problems and deficiencies of=20 Seaside and a furtherance of its promise.=20

Controversies have swirled around = Celebration since=20 its inception, eliciting two full-length books (=93The Celebration = Chronicles=94 by Andrew Ross and =93Celebration,=20 U.S.A.=94 by Douglas Frantz and Catherine = Collins) as well=20 as countless articles. = This=20 discussion intends to clarify the principal issues, separating the = intentions and actualities of the plan from the popular sport of=20 shadowboxing the developer who promoted it =97 the Disney = Corporation.=20

Celebration had a very long gestation, = indeed a=20 prehistory. Its = genesis was=20 in the late 1960s when the Disney Corporation purchased some = 27,000 acres=20 in central Florida nearby the then-quiet city of=20 Orlando. = Following the success of Disneyland in Anaheim, Walt Disney began conceiving a = second-generation=20 theme park in Florida. = It=20 may be remembered that the design establishment of the time (less = cynical=20 than today=92s) had admired Disneyland. = In=20 the influential essay by Charles Moore, =93You Have To Pay For The = Public=20 Life=94 (Perspecta 10 =96 = Yale=20 Architectural Journal), Disneyland was proposed as a surrogate public = realm. The planning profession = (at its=20 technocratic peak, before Jane Jacobs) heartily approved of the = crowd=20 handling, the transportation interfaces, and the amazing = monorail. Disneyland was hailed for its potential to = influence actual=20 communities. This = praise must=20 have affected Walt Disney for he envisioned the=20 Florida project to include a habitable new town = to be=20 called EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow).

EPCOT was to embody the most advanced = planning=20 techniques; indeed, it was the kind of futurist vision possible to = contemplate only in the heyday of the space program=20 (Cape=20 Canaveral is = about one=20 hour from Orlando). It=20 was a remarkable project, not least because it could have been = built. The design was completed = to the=20 extent that plans, renderings and a model were prepared and, with = Walt=20 Disney serving as narrator, a documentary film was produced.1

Disney=92s unexpected death in 1966 = halted the=20 process, and the generation of administrators that followed him, = either=20 lacking the vision or perhaps having the good sense not to attempt = an=20 urban experiment at such a scale, shelved everything but the = name. EPCOT was eventually = built as=20 another theme park, or more precisely, a=20 turn-of-the-century-style world=92s fair of the sort where = different=20 countries are represented by surrogate pieces of their = architecture, food,=20 artifacts, and inhabitants in native costume for the delight and=20 instruction of the visitors. =20 EPCOT does this rather well, but it is not a community = intended for=20 habitation, let alone a demonstration of visionary urbanism.=20

The idea died for a couple of decades = until the=20 advent of yet another generation of management =97 the present one = under=20 Disney Corporation CEO Michael Eisner. Eisner assembled a staff = that was,=20 arguably, the equal to Walt Disney in vision. He set about to = fulfilling the=20 potential of the company, including the revival of the idea of = building a=20 model city.

Eisner=92s first step was to restore to=20 America the role of architectural patron.2 This involved the = retention of=20 first-rate architects for various Disney office buildings, hotels = and even=20 some park structures. = Under=20 the new entity of Disney Development Company and president Peter = Rummell, Wing Chao and others served as = architectural=20 advisors. =20 Graves, Venturi, = Stern, Gwathmey, Gehry, = Isosaki and other such illustrissimos, designed buildings. The critical success of = this=20 venture probably emboldened Eisner to the resuscitation of the new = town=20 idea, but one that could hardly be more different from the = original EPCOT.=20

Some say Celebration would not have been = undertaken=20 were it not for the need to maximize the value of Disney=92s = enormous land=20 holdings. After = every=20 conceivable idea for theme parks, hotels and office parks had been = allocated, there was still substantial territory left over. Another, more intricate = story=20 involves a geopolitical scenario where two additional interchanges = on I-4=20 would open up this sector of the Disney holdings for development = but only=20 if a project as appealing as Celebration was to be proposed.3 Both of these are = plausible=20 scenarios. The = latter, if=20 true, was a brilliant strategic move, as two exits were duly = granted =97 one=20 for a new entry, in addition to a major new toll way connected = directly to=20 the airport (The Greenway). =20 This sort of move is no less than a responsible development = company=20 would make in the vast game that is the urbanization process in = the=20 Sunbelt. = There is nothing dishonorable about = it.

Even beyond the prehistory and the = elaborate=20 permitting maneuvers, the incubation of Celebration was unusually=20 protracted, taking over eight years. =20 This was due to the careful consideration of every aspect, = and=20 perhaps also to excessive caution with the marriage between the=20 then-impeccable Disney reputation with the tainted trade of=20 Florida development.

The design process was not only long it = was also=20 elaborate. To = create=20 Celebration, a new design team was assembled. Peter Rummell had been brought in to head Disney = Development=20 from a career with Arvida, the most = prestigious=20 of Florida=92s real estate development = companies. He was seconded = throughout by Tom=20 Lewis, formerly head of Florida=92s Department of Community Affairs and = an architect=20 with a record of public service. =20 They began by holding an invited competition to choose the = firm who=20 would design this prestigious Disney project. Invited were Robert A. M. =20 Stern & Associates, Gwathmey/Siegel,=20 Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ) and Edward D. Stone, Jr. What DPZ would do was = assumed but=20 to the evident surprise of the Disney Development team, all but = one=20 competitor (Ed Stone=92s was a conventional resort) also designed=20 neo-traditional plans. = After=20 a men=92s room conversation, the three sympathetic architects = (Duany, Stern=20 and Siegel) contrived a proposal for jointly preparing a = plan. In the meantime, Lewis = and Rummel had arrived at the idea of pursuing a = =93consensus plan.=94 = A charrette duly took place in the Gwathmey/Siegel office not long = afterwards. = =93Seaside=94 book co-author Keller Easterling (at that time a Stern employee) = played a=20 prominent part in the design. =20 The resulting plan was a continuously curved grid, both = simple and=20 elegant, which, as it turned out, did not take the wetlands = sufficiently=20 into account. = Ultimately,=20 this and other realities of the site would cause the plan to be = modified=20 to the present one.4

At this point, the project became = submerged in the=20 permitting process (by all accounts well handled by Tom Lewis with = attorney Bob Rhodes in charge of environmental issues). When it emerged for = detail design=20 years later, the team stood as: =20 Robert A.M. Stern with Paul Whalen as project manager; = Jaquelyn Robertson with Brian Shea as project manager; and EDAW, the firm = charged=20 with the landscape plan. = (The=20 town center was a separate competition with Stern, Robertson and = Gwathmey/Siegel invited. The Stern plan won and = it was=20 refined in conjunction with Robertson.) It is this team, with = the addition=20 of Ray Gindroz of UDA, who contrived the urban and architectural = controls,=20 that was responsible for the final design. Despite gracious = acknowledgement=20 by Tom Lewis, DPZ did not participate, except indirectly through = the=20 influence of Seaside and whatever ideas from the original = consensus=20 plan happened to be incorporated along the way.5

This team=92s master plan, currently = being built out=20 as planned, finally broke ground in 1994. Like all New Urbanist = towns,=20 Celebration includes a wide range of mixed-use and residential = building=20 types, a network of walkable streets, and at least one town = center. Development entitlements = include=20 8,065 residential units; 3,100,000 square feet of workplace; and = 2,125,000=20 square feet of retail, including the main street shops. The question of whether=20 Celebration is a New Urbanist town is no longer under debate since = it=20 fulfills as complete a checklist of the Charter=92s principles as = can be=20 found in any New Urbanist project. =20 Controversies, though, have emanated from sources other = than the=20 purist New Urbanists: = the=20 entrenched development industry, for one, perhaps fearing that=20 Celebration=92s success would change the rules of the game; and = for another=20 the avant-garde academic establishment, absolutely terrified that = such a=20 conservative design could actually result in a respectable, = socially=20 responsible community. = From=20 these sources, skepticism continues to be produced despite =93the = facts on=20 the ground.=94

The facts are that Celebration is one of = the most=20 intricate and accomplished examples of urban development since the = 1930s. The = diversity of=20 housing in close proximity at Celebration breaks new ground as it = includes=20 rental apartments and rowhouses, all seamlessly integrated with=20 single-family houses and quite expensive mansions. This ideal is a risky = marketing=20 proposition for developers. =20 Few New Urbanist towns do as well, while conventional = suburban=20 development does not even acknowledge the possibility. The large, mixed-use = town center=20 also includes apartments above stores, a school, a branch college = campus=20 (Stetson University) and a hotel, as well as useful retail and = restaurants=20 (not one a national chain), a bank, a church and plenty of office=20 space. It includes = a cinema=20 attached to a late-night bar and an ice cream store. The town center is = associated with=20 a lake along a public waterfront drive.6 The lake is part of a = simple and=20 elegant drainage system along a central canal that is both a = beautiful=20 civic element and environmentally responsible. There is a golf course = accessible=20 to the public and shared visually by all as it is fronted by a = public=20 drive rather than privatized by backyards.

But Celebration is certainly not = flawless. In terms of the housing, = there=20 were two errors made: = one=20 relates to the marketing, the other to affordability. As to the first, there = are not=20 enough townhouses to meet demand. =20 This is a common mistake among the New Urbanist=20 greenfield towns. =20 Since there is no precedent for higher-density housing = types=20 located so distant from the center, conventional rear-view market = analysis=20 yields no conclusion other than that they will not sell. But such methods do not = take into=20 account that while townhouses are meaningless without a town, they = are a=20 very desirable residential type when there is one. A stick of townhouses = amidst=20 suburban berms has the double disadvantage of lacking the big yard = in the=20 back without the compensation of a lively street in the = front. But Celebration is a = town, of=20 course, and thus the 200 or so original townhouses that were = reluctantly=20 provided sold out immediately, and there are no more to be had in = the town=20 center. More are = now being=20 built in the outlying areas where they make as little sense as in = a=20 conventional suburban development. It is difficult to = retrofit=20 to a higher density so it is always advisable in such cases of = skepticism=20 to provide the paper density and to reduce it subsequently if = there is=20 indeed a failure of demand.

The second error in the housing provision = is social=20 and also one of public relations. =20 It involves a Florida law requiring a ratio of affordable = housing to be=20 included in projects of a certain size. In most cases = developers, as=20 is their right, opt to make payments to the agency in lieu of = providing=20 their actual construction. = This practice is supported by the agency because it allows = all=20 their housing to be clustered, facilitating its = administration. By New Urbanist = standards this is=20 irresponsible as it segregates the society. In the case of = Celebration, this=20 was certainly an opportunity lost. This, in fact, = would have=20 responded to much of the criticism = regarding=20 affordability that, as with all New Urbanist communities, is lost = due to=20 scarcity regardless of its original selling price. Besides, it is now = difficult for=20 Celebration to accommodate the schoolteachers, babysitters and = service=20 industry workers that a modern 24/7 society requires. In fairness to Disney, = Celebration=20 is being built in Osceola County where there is an abundance of = affordable=20 housing. The = elected=20 officials of the county made it very clear to Disney that they = wanted no=20 lower cost (under $125,000) housing in = Celebration.

Beyond these criticisms, the plan itself = makes=20 several important improvements to the = Seaside model. =20 True alleys were provided to accommodate the parking (in=20 Seaside, the few planned alleys have been = gentrified), and=20 the privacy of the backyards was carefully secured by =93backbuildings=94 (such outdoor privacy is = neglected at=20 Seaside). =20 Also, a set of controls discourages the purchase of houses = by=20 individuals who would use them primarily as vacation houses, which = can=20 undermine the reality of community (this is an obvious problem at=20 Seaside). =20 This is another learned point from=20 Seaside where many buildings became spectacular=20 investments rather than homesteads. =20 In Celebration, a house sold within one year of its = completion=20 requires that the profits above the C.P.I. to revert to the = Celebration=20 Foundation. Thus = Celebration=20 has become a proper full-time community rather than a resort. This achievement should = be=20 applauded by those critics who demand such statistical ideals from = New=20 Urbanist communities.7 In addition, this constraint (which lowers the=20 desirability and consequently the value of the real estate) is not = a=20 policy that the usual for-profit developer would undertake. In this regard, = Celebration is a=20 reflection of the idealist economic model of Ebenezer Howard, so = seldom=20 implemented.

A trivial controversy was made prominent = by a=20 New York Times article and must, therefore, be addressed = here. Its details are vaguely=20 remembered, so only a generalized taint remains regarding an = oppressive=20 Disney paternalism. = But the=20 healthy investigative instinct of the journalist does not mean = that the=20 reporting was anything but ideologically driven. There was a protest led = by some=20 Celebration parents against the curriculum of the town=92s public=20 school. Their = dissatisfaction=20 was presented by the Times as a civic failure of the = community, but=20 it is actually the symptom of something else. That residents coalesce = around a=20 gripe is a manifestation of healthy community life (see = Baumgartner, =93The=20 Moral Order of the Suburb=94) and the outcome is revealing of the = actual=20 balance of power. =20 Celebration=92s residents were more conservative than the = developers=20 and did not appreciate the Celebration School=92s innovative curriculum, one that had = been=20 designed primarily by the Harvard School of Education. = The residents ultimately = succeeded=20 in altering the course at the public school against Disney. This demonstrates that = the terms=20 of the association documents are not entirely loaded to the = advantage of=20 the developer as they routinely are with the several hundred = thousand=20 other such homeowner=92s associations currently in place across = the United=20 States, those that seem to have slipped beneath the horizon of our = intelligentsia distracted as they are with more important issues = of free=20 artistic expression.

An interesting and valid set of questions = regards=20 the retail component. = This=20 one is debated principally within the development industry. It concerns a main = street that was=20 fully built-out very early in the project, providing the commerce = to serve=20 the community before the population was there to support it. Several of these shops = have=20 failed. This has = caused some=20 to question the decision of building retail at all or, more = cogently, to=20 question its location for the main street is placed at the center = of the=20 community and away from the traffic flow of the highway that = passes by its=20 edge. Because of = Disney=92s=20 wealth, some assume the surviving shops must be heavily = subsidized. This is not so, as shown = by the=20 fact that a few of the most sentimentally compelling have gone out = of=20 business (a bakery, a bookstore and a bicycle shop). Indeed, the shops are = centrally=20 managed; the merchants are recruited proactively as is the case = with any=20 modern shopping center. = The=20 subsidies are no more than incubator tenants receive in a = conventional=20 shopping mall as the management helps them get a start in = business. These =93subsidies=94 = are about to end=20 at Celebration, as is standard practice. In any case, the main = street in a=20 New Urbanist community should not necessarily be considered a = profit=20 center; it plays the role of the principal amenity. It is the marketing = equivalent=20 (and equivalent line item on the budget) of the clubhouse and = guarded=20 entry of the conventional suburban housing pod, from which no = developer=20 expects to make a direct profit.

Be that as it may, the main street in = Celebration=20 was placed at the centroid of the = community,=20 where it does not have access to the economic energy of the = regional=20 traffic but where it provides =93walk to town=94 convenience to a = significant=20 number of residents, especially children. The criticism that the = shops=20 should not have been located internally is valid in economic = principle;=20 along the highway they would certainly have been successful from = the very=20 beginning. = However, had=20 the shops been so located, the regional traffic may have = overwhelmed the=20 smallish main street and undermined its role as social condenser = of the=20 community.8 The result could have = been that of=20 Seaside, where the town square has become a regional = destination. Great numbers of = outsiders do=20 support the relatively cosmopolitan mix of merchants at=20 Seaside, but they overwhelm the residents and = dilute the=20 sense of community.

Besides, a close study of the plan shows = that there=20 was really no other choice. =20 The highway, where the town center could have been, is cut = off from=20 the community by a second, limited-access expressway. As it is, this awkward = residual=20 area between the two regional thoroughfares is where the = employment area=20 is planned. Four = office=20 buildings by Aldo Rossi and a hospital by Stern are complete, and = others=20 that will provide the balanced employment are currently planned = for=20 construction. It = does=20 continue to be a problem that these workplaces, cut off by the = tollway, will not be within walking distance = of=20 =93lunch=94 on the main street; but there is no better solution = available than=20 the one that was implemented. =20 Celebration=92s is what we call an =93unlucky site,=94 in = this=20 respect.

The tenuous economic situation of the = main street=20 is another manifestation of the citizen=92s relative power. Disney could assure the = success of=20 the shops by introducing the main street to the infonet that distributes the millions of = tourists to=20 its various venues. =20 Celebration could easily have become part of the = visitor=92s=20 itinerary. While = the=20 merchants sought it, the residents did not wish it, and the Disney = Corporation complied against its own best financial interests.=20

Beyond these controversies, there are = lessons to be=20 learned from Celebration=92s corporate management. For example, the = main street=20 maintains four restaurants at different price points. The most expensive is a = =93white=20 tablecloth and wine=94 operation suited for special occasions, = while the=20 most economical one will feed a family nicely without undue = hardship. This is not the usual=20 situation. = Following the=20 dictates of highest and best use, most = Florida waterfronts have restaurants that have = either=20 become simultaneously expensive or been reduced to providing cheap = tourist=20 food. Corporate = management=20 can maintain variety when appropriate assuring that ordinary and = useful=20 things remain available. = The=20 alternate is the antiques or t-shirt-and-tourist-trinket-emporia = typical=20 of most historic main streets. =20 Mom and pop stores may succeed economically, but they do = not=20 usually serve the ordinary needs of the surrounding = residents. Celebration maintains = its=20 traditional main street of useful, ordinary retail with modern = shopping=20 center-style management. =20 This, it seems, is the future.

Celebration is controversial in other = ways related=20 to management. One = has to do=20 with its political implications; the second has to do with its = physical=20 results.

Management, such as there is in = Celebration, is=20 usually tagged by critics as =93private government.=20 =94 This critical term cleverly implies secession from the = travails=20 of American democracy. = This=20 is not so. The = property=20 owner=92s associations9 of Celebration are = actually an=20 additional layer of government willingly engaged by the = residents. It does not preclude the = usual=20 overlay of county, state and federal government. In fact, the Celebration = associations are not unlike 200,000 other property owners=92 = associations=20 common to the post-war suburbs.10 Associations are = municipal=20 governments by contract. = At=20 the time of purchase, future residents agree to abide by a stated = set of=20 rights and responsibilities. =20 Is this more restrictive than moving into a city subject to = a=20 municipal code one has not been reminded to examine? And what of the = unquestioned=20 commonplace of being born into a government? How fair is that? One day, as is the case = with=20 virtually all such developments since the 1920s, I expect that = Celebration=20 will be incorporated as a municipality, with the association as = its basis.=20

What exacerbates the Celebration = governance=20 controversy is that, in this case, the current controlling entity = is an=20 enormously powerful corporation. =20 I experimented with this relationship three years ago by = purchasing=20 a lot in Celebration and designing a house to be built on it. Coincidentally, I went = through a=20 similar process for a house in my hometown, the city of=20 Coral=20 Gables,=20 Fla. = I=20 found my experience at Celebration to be superior to that provided = by the=20 presumably excellent municipal government of upper-class=20 Coral=20 Gables. The details are beyond = the scope=20 of this paper, but the experiences opened me to the possibility = that=20 American municipal government is often less responsive to its = citizens=20 than an American corporation to its customers. The competence and = alacrity so=20 often lacking in the public sector is commonplace in private=20 enterprise. And = besides, the=20 correction of mismanagement by corporation with a contractual = relationship=20 to a customer can be readily engaged by arbitration or threat of=20 lawsuit. A = municipality is=20 usually unresponsive to remedies other than concerted political = action =97 a=20 rather labor-intensive, long-range and iffy proposition, not worth = engaging to correct the minor humiliations that Americans have = learned to=20 endure from their municipal governments.

In the end, Celebration must be assessed = the way=20 all urbanism should be assessed =97 not by photos and short visits = (which=20 suffice for architectural criticism), but by inhabiting a place = for a=20 period of time.1 1 = Does the community improve how = the day=20 is lived? Does it = accommodate=20 the ebb and flow of life? =20

I spent several days in Celebration = sampling the=20 quality of the morning coffee, the kind of groceries and = newspapers=20 available at the market, and the =93third place=94 atmosphere of = the=20 eateries. I even = tested the=20 police and maintenance functions by engaging in mild civic = misbehavior,=20 such as throwing trash on the ground and vandalizing parts of the = urban=20 furnishing.12 I joined seniors = and kids=20 gathering, and I experienced how late at night I could hang out = (martinis=20 were available till midnight from a satisfyingly flirtatious bar = girl next=20 to the movie house). =20 Celebration tested well in such ways, and particularly well = when=20 compared to developments of equal age, which is how urbanism = should be=20 evaluated. I = don=92t know about=20 New=20 York = when it=20 was still New=20 Amsterdam, but = Celebration=20 certainly outperformed Miami on its sixth birthday.1 3 Time is a tremendously = important=20 factor in urbanism, one that is seldom internalized in the current = assessment of the New Urbanism movement.14

The other controversy over controls is=20 architectural. It = centers on=20 The Celebration Pattern Book, conceived by Ray Gindroz and=20 UDA. This = document is=20 of a different order altogether from the = Seaside code, and indeed from most any other = code ever=20 written or drawn. = It has a=20 precision, clarity and completeness that should elicit admiration = from=20 anyone who studies it as an intellectual achievement. But its very = comprehensiveness=20 goads critics. In = addition to=20 those arguments from architects concerned with the infringement on = their=20 prerogative for creativity, one can legitimately raise the = question: Does=20 it improve the urbanism when its physical manifestation is so = precisely=20 prescribed?

First, to the complaining architects, one = would=20 have to respond: Why is it that there are no complaints of = repression when=20 a single architect designs all the buildings, however, when a = design is=20 distributed to scores of architects that would not otherwise be = involved=20 there are problems? = This=20 concern is a knee-jerk reaction and compels no further attention, = but=20 there is an interesting question regarding a tradeoff in = quality. Many creative = possibilities are=20 precluded by codes, but so is substandard performance and = kitsch. It is a truism that, by = raising=20 the bottom, a code inevitably lowers the top. A code operates like a = sine curve=20 controlling symmetrically the oscillation between the brilliant = and the=20 dismal. While no = building in=20 Celebration rises to the level of the best buildings at=20 Seaside, no building falls to the level of = kitsch. This range can be = attributed to=20 Seaside=92s looser code, which allows better but = also worse=20 buildings. =20 Seaside has buildings by Rossi, Holl, Chatham, Berke,=20 Machado, Silvetti, Gorlin, Merrill, Mockbee and Krier, all by code, but it also has = buildings that=20 will improve when blown down by a hurricane. =

A code itself is a neutral instrument = that can be=20 adjusted, but it cannot eliminate the exceptionally bad without = limiting=20 the exceptionally good. = The=20 application of The Celebration Pattern Book has led to a = general=20 run of architecture that is uniformly good, but not more. This potential problem = has been=20 mitigated in Celebration by the two-dozen commercial and civic = buildings=20 at the town center that are not coded =96 at least not in the = usual=20 sense. For these, = the old=20 stable of Disney star architects were invited and given the = =93theme=94 of the=20 small southern town. = They=20 worked together in cycles of mutual critique to achieve the = necessary=20 compatibility that a code normally assures and that urbanism=20 requires. Thus, = Celebration=20 presents two patterns of coding. =20 The Pattern Book, which prescribes at a level = corresponding=20 to the builder=92s manuals of the 19th century, and the organic = method,=20 common in the 1920s of regionalist collegiality (which was later=20 undermined by the manic individualism induced by modernism).=20

Some who object to the Pattern = Book are=20 correct in assessing that one would not need an architect at all, = and it=20 is a waste to engage one. =20 This may be so, but it remains an important instrument for = those=20 instances, all too common in the American building industry, when = an=20 architect is not involved. = In=20 the meantime, we can look forward to a new section, in use but not = yet=20 printed, which creates modernist patterns for the forthcoming = office=20 buildings. This = will be added=20 to the six traditional styles already included in the Pattern = Book.=20

Another controversy (one of no permanent = interest)=20 regards the quality of the construction. Some early residents = complained=20 about what they perceived to be shoddiness. This is understandable = but=20 unfair. The quality = at=20 Celebration was similar to that of the corresponding price points = in=20 competing developments. = The=20 dissatisfaction stemmed from expectations projected on a Disney=20 product. Disney is = perceived=20 to be the creator of perfect environments, and those that = purchased did=20 not take into account the realities of the=20 Florida context. =20 In any case, the corrections were duly made, and housing at = Celebration currently exceeds the norm in both workmanship and = quality of=20 design.

After that difficult initial period, the = national=20 builders have learned how to build traditional houses correctly, = and they=20 have also learned that they are marketable, particularly when = assembled on=20 traditional streets within a walkable neighborhood. These builders are now = elsewhere=20 projecting New Urban communities, and many others are following = them. The list is becoming = longer, and=20 it includes some large companies.

Many individuals who participated in the=20 Celebration project have gone on to influence the development=20 industry. The = subsequent=20 achievements of the designers are well known. Peter Rummel has since become CEO of the St. Joe = Land=20 Corporation, with the largest real estate holdings in=20 Florida. = St.=20 Joe, having purchased Arvida, is = committed to=20 the New Urbanism and is now doing excellent work in Watercolor = (the=20 extension of Seaside) as well as half a dozen other large and = prominent=20 sites. = Celebration=92s first=20 town architect, Joe Barnes, is now the general manager at I=92On. A=20 group of executives has spun off and now consults under the name = of=20 Celebration Associates. = Tom=20 Lewis is a vice president of Walt Disney World and a resident of=20 Celebration.15

Celebration promises to become the most = influential=20 new town since Radburn, N.J., the project that in 1927 introduced the = cul-de-sac and the collector road to=20 America. = This=20 is obvious in Florida where, like the ripples of a stone = thrown in a=20 pond, the effect is more visible close to the impact point. On any given day, you = can see=20 developers troop through what is now the most visible of the New = Urbanist=20 models.

Despite this projection, the question=20 persists: Is it = economically=20 possible to build a Celebration without the deep pockets of a = Disney? The answer is yes; even = the main=20 street is economically feasible. =20 This is demonstrated by a visit to Haile=20 Plantation in nearby Gainesville. = This=20 superb New Urbanist community was designed and developed by Robert = Kramer=20 under conventional constraints. =20 Haile Plantation, as = accomplished in=20 every way as Celebration, must become an integral part of any = study tour,=20 so one cannot talk oneself out of a commitment to the New Urbanism = by=20 concluding that Celebration is a great concept but =93only Disney = could do=20 it.=94

Why, then, doesn=92t The Celebration = Company (or its=20 current parent company Disney Imagineering) continue in the = business of=20 building new towns? = The=20 answer is simple. = For=20 all its success, the effort and time that it took to develop = Celebration=20 made it comparably less profitable than producing a single Disney = movie of=20 even middling box office success. =20 It is not a rational allocation of Disney=92s resources to = invest in=20 further New Urbanist projects. =20

But for the rest of us, it=20 is.

Andr=E9s Duany

Endnotes: =20

1 This film was subsequently shown to the = designers=20 of Celebration. =20

2 Eisner=92s fascination with architecture = may have had=20 its origins with Robert Stern=92s design for his parent=92s=20 New=20 York = apartment. =20

3 In Florida, a Seaside-type development opens doors = to=20 permitting. =20

4 These early plans are on record in a = history album=20 at the Celebration sales office. =20

5 Seaside and Newpoint = assessments=20 for precedent were led by Robert Stern. =

6 Celebration is not a gated = community. The security forces are = the=20 Osceola county sherrif. =20

7 I was pleased to find that, adjacent to a = lot I=20 purchased for research reasons, were houses occupied by a black = family and=20 a gay couple. This = sort of=20 random occurrence is considered highly significant by those who = reduce the=20 judgment of urbanism to quotas of diversity.

8 Besides, Route 192 is a brutal commercial = strip=20 that would have destroyed the environmental qualities of the=20 Main=20 Street. =

9 There are two: a residential and a = commercial=20 one. The former = will one day=20 be entirely controlled by the residents. The commercial = association will=20 likely continue to be controlled by the Celebration Company. =20 Main=20 street=20 retail, like other modern retailing must be centrally managed to = remain=20 competitive. =20

10 These numbers do not include the = management=20 associations increasingly common in inner cities, or the otherwise = similar=20 condominium associations. =20

11 To their credit, the authors of these two = books=20 lived in Celebration for long periods of time. That is why the books = are worth=20 reading. =20

12 The result was gratifying: I was not arrested, and = the damage=20 was quickly made good. =20

13 Founders=92 Day: November = 18,=20 1995.

14 For example, in the writings of Alex = Marshall who=20 has been proven wrong over the years.

15 Tom Lewis may write a book on = Celebration. He is so evidently proud = of his=20 (very real) achievements that one fears that it will be overly=20 celebratory. =