celebration florida

A street scene from Celebration, Florida. It looks like a farmer's market is in progress. This master planned community received a fair amount of attention in the design media when it was conceived and being developed. It's no longer front page news, which I suppose may come as a relief for some of the people who live there. From what I can tell, there's nothing extraordinary about the place, although the population is wealthier and whiter than the average American town. As a model for New Urbanism, it appears to be successful, but that shouldn't come as a surprise given that New Urbanism is merely regular urbanism with less strip malls and a more rational approach to vehicular management. It's easy to do things right when you spend money and do a little bit of research. The architecture, which could be subjected to criticism for his its unabashed Disneyfication, is pretty subtle to my eye. Simplicity is favored over flamboyance.

After spending a few minutes looking at on Google I'm getting more curious about what went into the planning and development process. I wonder if its aesthetic and financial success is a consequence of exclusionary policies. Does this development model have transferable and scalable qualities or is it only appropriate for a narrow segment of the populace?