Why some suburbs are trying to be more like cities

[marmar]

[font size="1"]The suburb of New Rochelle, N.Y. has been struggling economically for the past few decades.[/font]


(MarketWatch) For more than a generation, the suburb of New Rochelle, N.Y., has been struggling with a stagnant economy, closed storefronts and tax revenue that has fallen even as New York City has boomed just 15 miles to the south.

Now this bedroom community is forging ahead with a plan to remake its low-slung downtown into a landscape checkered with office towers, high-rise apartments and new retail. Over the past year and a half, it has changed its zoning and signed on a team of developers to start building some of the planned towers — all in a bid to attract new employers and residents and breathe life into the local economy.

In short, this suburb is trying to look urban. And it isn’t the only one. Urbanization efforts in New Rochelle, a city of 79,000, offer a glimpse of changes taking shape in suburbs around the country. While the approaches vary, what they share is a general desire for urban-style development meant to appeal to youth and attract employers who might otherwise gravitate to cities.

Coast to coast

Tysons Corner, a giant collection of suburban-style office parks in Virginia near Washington, D.C., is pushing developers to build apartments, tall office towers and street grids. North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park — a bastion of isolated corporate campuses built in the second half of last century — is now trying to develop about 1,500 apartments mixed with offices for multiple companies, a first for the park. Officials there hope more will follow. ..............(more)

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-some-suburbs-are-trying-to-be-more-like-cities-2016-05-11

[Renew Deal]

1. New Roc City

I've been there. There are tall buildings a few blocks away from large homes. It's like some other small cities in the US, but not as big as them.

[marmar]

2. I lived there for 3 years. I have much love for NewRo.

[islandmkl]

3. Rob and Laura could have had a 'city' if they had just waited...

[MisterP]

4. it's also a restructuring of the burbs--the strip malls aren't being torn down so much

as they're being made more accessible and Main Streets are being "vitalized," the jumble of muffler shops and Lamps Pluses kicked out for Neapolitan pizzerias and art supply

while Santa Clarita and Santa Monica try to block rail by any means OC and the Valley are demanding better service (natch, if they don't have to pay for it--they're still suburbanites)