Belmar is a new city project in Lakewood based on New Urbanism ideas. Belmar contains many features of New Urbanism and in my opinion, is closer to realizing the goals of New Urbanism than Highlands’ Garden Village, another New Urbanism project in Denver. Belmar provides greater access to more services and offers a greater diversity of housing. Belmar also connects its living spaces with a greater variety of activities. Part of this is simply because Belmar is a bigger development and has more space available than Highlands.
The Belmar retrofit looks at first view like an exclusive complex and many people may think that living there must be very expensive and just for higher classes. But when we look closer, we can see the diversity of apartments, houses, and condos and this diversity brings different prices for housing. This complex offers more choice and opportunities, also one of the goals of New Urbanism.
Belmar reminds me of new complexes of apartment houses just outside of Prague. These places in Prague are much more extended than Belmar, but after a few years of construction they look like ugly places without any personal spirit. With construction still continuing at Belmar, I hope that the community will not lose its character as some have in Prague.
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| Construction continues at Belmar. |
So far, Belmar is a bigger project than Highlands’ Garden and we can still observe its development and ongoing construction. Because of the bigger expansion there, Belmar is able to offer a greater variety of housing options. We can observe young couples living in smaller apartments, houses or condos for families, and larger luxury apartments for higher class residents. These are all uniquely contained within the same community. Belmar’s variety allows it to be affordable for different classes of people and this feature corresponds well with the goals of New Urbanism.
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| Belmar offers a variety of housing options. |
At Belmar and in Denver, public transportation efforts are still young and in the beginning of the process. People’s mindset still needs changed as they must realize that using buses is not just for lower class people who cannot afford to have a car. Instead, public transportation facilitates reduced traffic and lower energy. It helps the environment while not hurting one’s social status.
Belmar is very well organized for social activities and creates different entertainment options for its community. There is open space with benches located between commercial stores and during the winter, an ice rink is created. Many festivals and events are held during the year in the streets. For instance, the popular Festival Italiano attracts people to the community, while also bringing existing community members together. These things meet the New Urbanism goal of strengthening the community.
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| Activities and festivals often fill the Belmar streets. |
By asking some people, Belmar appears to be more popular than Highlands Garden Village among young people who are generally more open-minded about new styles of living. Belmar is also still growing, so we can expect other ideas of New Urbanism here in the future.
