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Ruskin Heights


CellarDoor135

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Where to begin, where to begin...

First, I appreciate the positive comment about the neighborhood in the first paragraph. I hope you get a chance to spend some time at Ruskin Heights once it gets built (or stop by to chat about it any time for that matter - our office is on site).

On to the comments that I disagree with and I'll take the easy one first - Anyone who paid any attention to our approval process will know that including a variety of homes at a variety of price points is PRECISELY what was being fought by the opposition (which was almost exclusively immediate neighbors). A lot of people pay lip service to wanting "affordable housing" but no one wants it near them. (This isn't an indictment - I think if we are honest with ourselves most of us will admit that we don't want someone building something much cheaper next door to us despite our moral and political ideals.) As for Ruskin Heights, one of our main concessions was to discard two thirds of our "cottage homes", which were small, 1,400 square foot homes that reached a price point that is currently unattainable in the Root School District.

Now to the more broad points about New Urbanism. Both of these comments have a basis in reality, but I strongly disagree with the conclusions:

1. New Urbanism is aimed at the more affluent classes

a) Basis in reality - Most new developments are aimed at affluent people. Furthermore, even a larger percentage of developments that require the detailed attention that a well designed New Urban neighborhood requires are aimed at affluent people. This is not a New Urban phenomenon, but a new development phenomenon.

b) Further basis in reality - New Urban developments have appreciated dramatically. Studies performed by two different tract home builders (Morrission Homes and Whittaker Homes) that build the exact same home models in conventional subdivisions and New Urban neighborhoods have found that the homes in the New Urban neighborhoods sell at up to a 23% premium and appreciate, on average, 17% more quickly (which is amazing considering the premium paid in the first place).

c) Incorrect conclusion - New Urbanism is aimed at affluent people. Actually New Urban communities are particularly well suited to accomodating a wide range of incomes (and lifestyles for that matter). By providing a wide range of home sizes and types, a wider range of people can live in the neighborhood. It is as simple as that. The fact that they generate a premium valuation and appreciate so quickly is a measure of desire for this type of neighborhood relative to the severely limited supply, not a target market issue.

2. New Urbanism is based on an ideal of what pre-automobile America's neighborhoods were like.

a) Basis in reality - New Urban neighborhoods are more pedestrian oriented and make a concerted effort to reduce dependence on automobiles

b) Incorrect conclusion - New Urbanism is based on pre-automobile America's neighborhoods. First, New Urbanism draws heavily from European and Asian neighborhoods so it isn't based just on American anything. Much more importantly, New Urbanism doesn't ignore automobiles, it seeks to more appropriately balance their role in our culture (i.e., you shouldn't have to get in your car to take care of every little task such as grabbing a gallon of milk or buying an ice cream cone).

Again, I love talking about this stuff so stop by any time.

Ward

Interesting points- I'll have to ponder and read up a little more before I reply. It is interesting stuff and a good topic for discussion.

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I only went to one planning meeting where Ruskin Heights was discussed but did keep up with the news about it. Best I remember most of the oposition was about density, traffic problems on Mission, drainage and the few who were afraid someone would be looking in their windows from the tower. Density and price point are directly related but I don't remember anyone coming straight out and saying they didn't want lower price housing next door- that would have been too politically incorrect for anyone to say. Of course, I didn't follow the debate as closely as those directly involved so I may have missed some of the opposing viewpoints. I was glad to see the city finally approve the project.

New Urbanism as a philosophy may not be aimed at the higher income groups but in practical terms it is. There are new developments underway in NWA that target lower income groups. An example would be the Triton Homes townhomes development off I540 in Fayetteville. These are all under $150,000 and so aren't targeted at higher income people. A development such as Ruskin will offer more neighborhood ammenities than the Trition project and will have to have a higher price per square foot for residential space in order to provide said ammenities. That will require targeting a higher income group of buyers unless buyers are willing to accept less square footage for the price they pay.

I didn't mean to imply that New Urbanism was a direct copy of pre-auto America but it does try to recreate the closeness that the era had. Obviously the auto isn't going away anytime soon and so any development has to take them into account. I think in Europe at least that what is considered New Urbanism here is considered a normal city growth pattern there. As the price of gas rises here to the levels in Europe I think we'll see much more support for New Urbanism developments out of necessity.

Thanks, I will stop by sometime to check out the development. Good luck in these tough economic times. I'll add that my comments are as an interested consumer/concerned citizen with no formal planning background.

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So in quick assessment, we should just start building communities on top of Wal-Mart super-centers....

Sorry, off topic.

No :lol: , but if you think back neighborhoods used to have small bits of retail including grocery stores. But that was also before big supermarkets let alone massive Wal-mart supercenters.

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I only went to one planning meeting where Ruskin Heights was discussed but did keep up with the news about it. Best I remember most of the oposition was about density, traffic problems on Mission, drainage and the few who were afraid someone would be looking in their windows from the tower. Density and price point are directly related but I don't remember anyone coming straight out and saying they didn't want lower price housing next door- that would have been too politically incorrect for anyone to say. Of course, I didn't follow the debate as closely as those directly involved so I may have missed some of the opposing viewpoints. I was glad to see the city finally approve the project.

New Urbanism as a philosophy may not be aimed at the higher income groups but in practical terms it is. There are new developments underway in NWA that target lower income groups. An example would be the Triton Homes townhomes development off I540 in Fayetteville. These are all under $150,000 and so aren't targeted at higher income people. A development such as Ruskin will offer more neighborhood ammenities than the Trition project and will have to have a higher price per square foot for residential space in order to provide said ammenities. That will require targeting a higher income group of buyers unless buyers are willing to accept less square footage for the price they pay.

I didn't mean to imply that New Urbanism was a direct copy of pre-auto America but it does try to recreate the closeness that the era had. Obviously the auto isn't going away anytime soon and so any development has to take them into account. I think in Europe at least that what is considered New Urbanism here is considered a normal city growth pattern there. As the price of gas rises here to the levels in Europe I think we'll see much more support for New Urbanism developments out of necessity.

Thanks, I will stop by sometime to check out the development. Good luck in these tough economic times. I'll add that my comments are as an interested consumer/concerned citizen with no formal planning background.

Yeah I remember some of those 'worries'. But I am looking forward to seeing this development take shape. Hopefully people will see how good a development can be and can help shape other future neighborhoods. One good thing about the slowdown in the housing market. Maybe people will quit trying to 'flip' houses. So that people who actually want to buy a house to live in rather than as an investment can buy houses.

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Frankly, I think all we need is to provide a local example of a great New Urban neighborhood.

It is important to remember that many people don't "choose" to live in in suburbs. Instead their housing choices have been severely limited by Euclidean zoning and traffic engineering based on a hierarchy of streets. Until recently, in fact, it was illegal to build mixed use, mixed housing type, and walkable neighborhoods and it still requires a more rigorous approval process than sprawl subdivisions.

Don't mean to get us off topic here, but hey I saw you on 40/29 this morning. Granted you were talking more about being Green and LEED certified buildings. But at least Ruskin Heights was mentioned. :D

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Don't mean to get us off topic here, but hey I saw you on 40/29 this morning. Granted you were talking more about being Green and LEED certified buildings. But at least Ruskin Heights was mentioned. :D

Wow you were up early! That interview was live, by the way. Nothing like a 3:45 alarm clock to start the day.

We are working hard on all the LEED stuff right now and will submit for LEED-Neighborhood Design within the next week. We also are pulling together our LEED for Homes upgrade for people who want to choose that option. This time next year I hope we have a majority of the LEED certified homes in the state in Ruskin Heights.

By the way, when are you stopping by our office (on site up the gravel road off of Greenview)? I would think you would enjoy a walkthrough of the neighborhood.

Ward

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Wow you were up early! That interview was live, by the way. Nothing like a 3:45 alarm clock to start the day.

We are working hard on all the LEED stuff right now and will submit for LEED-Neighborhood Design within the next week. We also are pulling together our LEED for Homes upgrade for people who want to choose that option. This time next year I hope we have a majority of the LEED certified homes in the state in Ruskin Heights.

By the way, when are you stopping by our office (on site up the gravel road off of Greenview)? I would think you would enjoy a walkthrough of the neighborhood.

Ward

Yeah I work pretty early. Anyway it was great that you had a chance to be on. Great to hear about the LEED houses and neighborhood. I think Fayetteville should be a leader in this. I do need to stop by sometime and see what's going on over there. I'm not sure when, I might like to wait a bit till there's a little more being constructed. Which reminds me how much activity is going on right now?

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  • 2 months later...

I hadn't realized the people living near the Ruskin Heights development were still causing problems. Apparently the neighbors have been sorting through the trash there hoping to find something to try to get the developers in trouble or something. But here's what really stood out to me. They got a Christmas card last year that stated "Santa told me to tell you to go to Hell'. Through all of us I've really only been able to find one problem with this development, and that's the people who live around that development. I'm sure they're not all bad people. But I guess I'm still amazed how some people somehow feel 'threatened' by this development because it's not your typical cookie cutter suburban style neighborhood. I don't know maybe these people are just severely deficient in adapting to changes.

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I hadn't realized the people living near the Ruskin Heights development were still causing problems. Apparently the neighbors have been sorting through the trash there hoping to find something to try to get the developers in trouble or something. But here's what really stood out to me. They got a Christmas card last year that stated "Santa told me to tell you to go to Hell'. Through all of us I've really only been able to find one problem with this development, and that's the people who live around that development. I'm sure they're not all bad people. But I guess I'm still amazed how some people somehow feel 'threatened' by this development because it's not your typical cookie cutter suburban style neighborhood. I don't know maybe these people are just severely deficient in adapting to changes.

I read that article too and it just made me mad. These people are just complete idiots. They have no idea what they are talking about and just want to cause problems because they are losing a field to development. They should be thankful that it is not an apartment complex being built instead of a great infill project. If they wanted to keep it lightly developed, they should have bought the property. :angry:

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I read that article too and it just made me mad. These people are just complete idiots. They have no idea what they are talking about and just want to cause problems because they are losing a field to development. They should be thankful that it is not an apartment complex being built instead of a great infill project. If they wanted to keep it lightly developed, they should have bought the property. :angry:

I know, there's all sorts of other type of developments that could have gone in that would have been a lot worse. But I'm with you. It's so frustrating seeing one of the best developments in Fayetteville having so many problems with some crazy neighbors.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Ruskin Heights developers will be able to pay the city $43,000 in lieu of making street improvements. The whole thing started because AHTD wouldn't allow them to make the make the street improvements. I haven't heard what the problem was there. Of course all the local residents used this as an excuse to try to get the city to deny the development even though it was the developers fault at all. The city did pass it but two city officials voted against it, Nancy Allen and Lioneld Jordan. Another reason I certainly won't be voting for Jordan for city mayor this fall.

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The Ruskin Heights developers will be able to pay the city $43,000 in lieu of making street improvements. The whole thing started because AHTD wouldn't allow them to make the make the street improvements. I haven't heard what the problem was there. Of course all the local residents used this as an excuse to try to get the city to deny the development even though it was the developers fault at all. The city did pass it but two city officials voted against it, Nancy Allen and Lioneld Jordan. Another reason I certainly won't be voting for Jordan for city mayor this fall.

I heard about that. Although I also don't know what the state's objection was to the street improvements (they're going to need to be made sometime soon anyway), it's not the developer's fault, and if they're paying the amount anyway that in theory will be put toward improving the intersection of their street and Mission, what's the big deal? The people living on the side of this development (some of them) really irritate me. If I were exceedingly wealthy, I think I'd buy a row of houses on the side of Ruskin just so I could own them and rent them to people that won't whine about good urban planning.

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I heard about that. Although I also don't know what the state's objection was to the street improvements (they're going to need to be made sometime soon anyway), it's not the developer's fault, and if they're paying the amount anyway that in theory will be put toward improving the intersection of their street and Mission, what's the big deal? The people living on the side of this development (some of them) really irritate me. If I were exceedingly wealthy, I think I'd buy a row of houses on the side of Ruskin just so I could own them and rent them to people that won't whine about good urban planning.

:lol:

Yeah like I've said before the only thing wrong with this development are some of the people in the surrounding neighborhood.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Some citizens have been very quick to point out any negative aspect (real or imagined) to the developers of Ruskin Heights. So I thought it should also be pointed out the positives as well. The developers donated a lot of rock to help with the erosion of Mudd Creek. All the rain we experienced earlier in the year caused erosion of sections of Mudd Creek. The developers donated a lot of stone to be used to help stabilize areas of Mudd Creek. I believe I heard it was around $30,000 worth of rock. Unlike some people, the developers are being good neighbors and I just thought I would point that out.

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Driving around this area and looking at the lack of diversity in new homestyles and new neighborhoods in our area, it really makes me appreciate having something different. When Fayetteville and the area makes a top 100 list, I can't help but think how the real quality of life is lacking because of all of the cookie cutter neighborhoods. I love going to a big city and seeing how each house is diverse and different. The developers here are greedy and either have a background in military construction or wal-mart economic theory. A step up from them would be communism.

Anyways, on a totally different subject: were there any neat things found in the rocks on the Ruskin property? Any fossils or minerals?

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Anyways, on a totally different subject: were there any neat things found in the rocks on the Ruskin property? Any fossils or minerals?

These rocks weren't from the site. I'm guessing they had bought a lot of stone in part for their own development but went ahead and donated some of what they bought to the city.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just thought I would add their website in case anyone didn't see it. I apologize if someone has already posted the site.

Very awesome development.

Ruskin Heights

I was thinking it's in here somewhere but who knows where it is exactly. Probably a good idea to repost some of these links every once in a while.

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  • 4 months later...

I've been meaning to bring this topic back up. I saw Ruskin on here and it reminded to finally do so. I was curious to see how things are going with the development. Is the current economy slowing things down? I've driven by it the other week but it's hard to see what's going on because of the topography there.

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I've been meaning to bring this topic back up. I saw Ruskin on here and it reminded to finally do so. I was curious to see how things are going with the development. Is the current economy slowing things down? I've driven by it the other week but it's hard to see what's going on because of the topography there.

At the end of December, we FINALLY received a permit from the the highway department to widen Highway 45. According to our Conditions of Approval with the City, we have to complete the highway improvements before we can receive final plat and, therefore, can begin vertical construction. The bureaucratic process has cost us a few months, but it looks like that time will likely be the bottom of a lousy real estate market and it gave us time to finalize our architectural plans.

More importantly, we will be opening sales in the next two weeks or so. I'll let you know when we firm up the date.

Finally, during the time that I have written this note, we have published the beta version of our new web site (Ruskin Heights). We will be continually popluting the site with useful information over the next several weeks.

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I noticed the work going on it looked like in preparation for the road project on my way to WMNM last night.

Thanks for perservering. This project looks incredible. Its going to raise the bar for development all over Fayetteville!

I really appreciate the kind words. I also apologize in advance that we will be messing up the traffic for a few weeks while widening the road. Afterwards it ought to greatly reduce the burden of traffic coming into and leaving the neighborhood, but the construction will be a pain for a bit.

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At the end of December, we FINALLY received a permit from the the highway department to widen Highway 45. According to our Conditions of Approval with the City, we have to complete the highway improvements before we can receive final plat and, therefore, can begin vertical construction. The bureaucratic process has cost us a few months, but it looks like that time will likely be the bottom of a lousy real estate market and it gave us time to finalize our architectural plans.

More importantly, we will be opening sales in the next two weeks or so. I'll let you know when we firm up the date.

Finally, during the time that I have written this note, we have published the beta version of our new web site (Ruskin Heights). We will be continually popluting the site with useful information over the next several weeks.

Cool, thanks for the info. :D Glad to get this topic some attention again. I really like that rendering of Mackintosh Square on the website.

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  • 2 months later...

Seems like the developers have so much trouble with people and the city. Now the city is having a problem with the developers wanting to 'age' the concrete in the sidewalks. They're wanting to go for more of an established neighborhood rather than a brand new one. So one of the things they're wanting to do is age the sidewalks which involves pressure washing the top 1/8" off. I guess maybe I can see the city having some questions about it. But it's funny how the city encourages 'unique development styles'. But then nothing can get through all the city code. I can understand needing city codes and ordinances to prevent bad developments and such. But here's a case where it's being more harmful than useful. Fayetteville code only allows a 'broom finish' to sidewalks and curbs. Everybody complains about 'cookie cutter' developments. But then when someone comes in with a nice development the city seems to be discouraging it rather than encouraging it. Come on city officials, put your money where your mouth is. How about some city officials actually do something 'helpful' for a change. Before we run off more developers to other areas.

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