Mixed-use developments have been hailed as the antidote
to the cookie-cutter housing tracts that have spread across America’s suburbs over the past 40 years, separating residential neighborhoods from shopping centers and office parks and, in the process, creating traffic congestion.
By contrast, mixed-use developments promote a well-planned living space where residents and visitors interact in a robust, 24/7 environment. They incorporate the planning principles known as smart growth, which recognize the connections of land development and quality of life. They also encourage more walking and bike riding, and less driving to get from work to home to play.
These forward-thinking communities have been springing up for four decades, but until recently, Henrico County had not joined the parade. But with the birth of several major developments across the county’s diverse landscape, all that’s now changing.
“The county benefits in several ways,” said Randall R. Silber, Henrico County director of planning. “Mixed-use developments create urban centers that will attract new residents and businesses. The developments also make good use of available land and can revitalize communities. It’s a way of upgrading and diversifying the community. Ideally, mixed-use communities encourage fewer people to drive, therefore lessening the impact on public roads. Until recently, Henrico had viewed itself as a suburban county. We’re now offering other alternatives.” (continued) Henrico has approved several developments that are expected to enhance the county’s stature as a business destination. Recently, the Dow Jones MarketWatch named the greater Richmond region as the No. 3 metro center for business in the United States. The area also ranked first in concentration of Fortune 1000 companies with 13. Henrico is home to six (MeadWestvaco is headquartered in the county while it awaits the construction of its offices in downtown Richmond).
“It’s been written about, but I haven’t seen it proven; however I do believe mixed-use developments attract certain types of people,” said Ralph J. Emerson Jr., Henrico County assistant director of planning. “The young professionals and those who perform technology-type work or are on the cutting edge of that industry often live in these developments. “Mixed-used communities attract younger people because they offer the amenities and other attractions the new workforce is looking for,” he said. “The communities also are attractive to empty nesters for many of the same reasons.”
These factors—technology-based jobs and a younger population—bode well for the county’s future.
In the 1976 book, Mixed-Use Development: New Ways of Land Use, the authors defined mixed use as three or more significant revenue-producing uses, significant functional and physical integration of project components and development in conformance with a coherent plan.
However, the idea of mixed use was discovered long before the nation celebrated its bicentennial.
“This is the way cities were designed in the
18th and 19th centuries,” said Dr. John Moeser, professor emeritus of urban studies and planning at Virginia Commonwealth University and visiting fellow at the University of Richmond’s Center for Civic Engagement. “Many merchants lived above their stores. It wasn’t until the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, with the arrival of the streetcar and automobile, that you began to see more separation. Not only did you have more residential areas constructed, but distances between residential and commercial grew larger.”
Many modern zoning practices assigned land uses according to function—homes were separated from work, commerce and school. But in the 1960s and early 1970s, mixed use re-emerged as a means of urban revitalization with large-scale projects.
In the following years, the mixed-use approach tended to be scaled down and generally remained inside urban corridors.
It wasn’t until 1990s and 2000s, experts say, that mixed use came to suburbia.
Sidney J. Gunst founded Innsbrook Corporate Center in the western part of Henrico County in 1982. His creation now is home to 25,000 employees at more than 400 businesses, seven hotels, a concert pavilion and a retail shopping center. It was the first of its kind in the area.
“Innsbrook was a mixed-use environment that never crossed the threshold,” Gunst said. “It didn’t integrate the uses to create a pedestrian environment.”
In the 1976 book, Mixed-Use Development: New Ways of Land Use, the authors defined mixed use as three or more significant revenue-producing uses, significant functional and physical integration of project components and development in conformance with a coherent plan.
However, the idea of mixed use was discovered long before the nation celebrated its bicentennial.
“This is the way cities were designed in the
18th and 19th centuries,” said Dr. John Moeser, professor emeritus of urban studies and planning at Virginia Commonwealth University and visiting fellow at the University of Richmond’s Center for Civic Engagement. “Many merchants lived above their stores. It wasn’t until the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, with the arrival of the streetcar and automobile, that you began to see more separation. Not only did you have more residential areas constructed, but distances between residential and commercial grew larger.”
Many modern zoning practices assigned land uses according to function—homes were separated from work, commerce and school. But in the 1960s and early 1970s, mixed use re-emerged as a means of urban revitalization with large-scale projects.
In the following years, the mixed-use approach tended to be scaled down and generally remained inside urban corridors.
It wasn’t until 1990s and 2000s, experts say, that mixed use came to suburbia.
Sidney J. Gunst founded Innsbrook Corporate Center in the western part of Henrico County in 1982. His creation now is home to 25,000 employees at more than 400 businesses, seven hotels, a concert pavilion and a retail shopping center. It was the first of its kind in the area.
“Innsbrook was a mixed-use environment that never crossed the threshold,” Gunst said. “It didn’t integrate the uses to create a pedestrian environment.”
