Located just outside Austin, Plum Creek in Kyle, Tex. is this region’s first traditional neighborhood development — a community of 8,700 residential units, several hundred acres of green space, over 600 acres of commercial, employment, and mixed-use property, a 70-acre town center, and a commuter rail station, all built on the principles of “new urbanism.”

Plum Creek

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View full stats and project history at Terrain.org, which has an absorbing file of such “UnSprawl Case Studies” (and other great literary and visual content on place, both natural and built) viewable in the dropdown in the top right corner. Plum Creek may not look like paradise to everyone, but it’s an example of the way new developments can keep up with the times and the needs of a changing social and energy landscape.

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