Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
New Urbanism News - Restoring the Real New Orleans (The Practice of New Urbanism on Behalf of Andres Duany, 11/22/2006, found by Michael Lau)
The Practice of New Urbanism, On Behalf Of Andres Duany
An editorial
DRAFT NOVEMBER 22, 2006
RESTORING THE REAL NEW ORLEANS
Like so many others, I have long been a visitor to New Orleans. In my case, since 1979, when we studied the city to influence the design of the new town of Seaside. I have been back often--for New Orleans is one of the best places to learn architecture and urbanism in the United States. My emphasis on design might seem unusual, but it shouldn't be, for the design of New Orleans is of a quality and character comparable to the music and the cuisine that receives most of the attention.
All those visits, I regret to admit that I did not get to know the people--not really. The New Orleanians I met were doing their jobs but not necessarily being themselves. Such is the experience of the tourist. This all changed when Katrina brought me back in the role of planner. Engaging the planning process brought me face to face with the reality.
Apart from the misconceptions of the tourist, I had also been predisposed by the media to think of New Orleans in a certain way:that was as a charming, but lackadaisical and fundamentally misgoverned place that had been subjected to unwarranted devastation, with a great deal of anger and resentment as a result. That is indeed what I found at first; but as I engaged in the planning process I came to realize that the anger that I witnessed was relative. It was much less, for example, than the bitterness that one encounters in the typical California city with nothing more than traffic gripes.The people of New Orleans have an underlying sweetness, a sense of humor, and irony, and graciousness that is never far below the surface. These were not hard people.
Pondering this one day, I had an additional insight. I remember specifically when on a street in the Marigny I came upon a colorful little house framed by banana trees. I thought, "This is Cuba," (I am Cuban). I realized in that instant that New Orleans is not really an American city, but rather a Caribbean one. I understood that when seen through the lens of the Caribbean, New Orleans is not among the most haphazard, poorest or misgoverned American cities, but rather the most organized, wealthiest, cleanest, and competently governed of the Caribbean cities. This insight was fundamental because from that moment I understood New Orleans and began to truly sympathize. But even government? Like everyone, I found government in this city to be a bit random; but then I thought that if New Orleans were to be governed as efficiently as, say, Minneapolis, it would be a different place-and not one that I could care for. Let me work with the government the way it is. It is the human flaw that makes New Orleans the most human of American cities. (New Orleans came to feel so much like Cuba that I was driven to buy a house in the Marigny as a surrogate for my inaccessible Santiago de Cuba.)
When understood as Caribbean, New Orleans' culture seems ever more precious--and vulnerable to the effects of Katrina. Anxiety about cultural loss is not new. There has been a great deal of anguish regarding the diminishment of the black population, and how without it New Orleans could not regain itself. Just so. But I fear that the situation is more dire and less controllable. I am afraid that even if the majority of the population does return to reinhabit its neighborhoods, it will not mean that New Orleans, or at least the culture of New Orleans, will be back. The reason is not political, but technical. You see, the lost housing of New Orleans is quite special. Entering the damaged and abandoned houses you can still see what they were like before the hurricane. These houses were exceedingly inexpensive to live in. They were houses that were hand built by people's parents and grandparents, or by small builders paid in cash or by barter.Most of these simple, pleasant, houses were paid off. They had to be, because they do not meet any sort of code, and are therefore not mortgageable by current standards.
I think that it was possible to sustain the culture unique to New Orleans because housing costs were minimal. These houses liberated people from debt.One did not have to work a great deal to get by.There was the possibility of leisure. There was time to create the fabulously complex Creole dishes that simmer forever; there was time to practice music, to play it live rather than from recordings, and time to listen to it. There was time to make costumes and to parade; there was time to party and to tell stories; there was time to spend all day marking the passing of friends. One way to leisure time is to have a low financial carry. With a little work, a little help from the government, and a little help from family and friends-life could be good! This is a typically Caribbean social contract: not one to be understood as laziness or poverty-but as a way of life.
This ease, which has been so misunderstood in the national scrutiny following the hurricane, is the Caribbean way. It is a lifestyle choice and there is nothing intrinsically wrong with it. In fact, it is the envy of some of us who work all our lives to attain the condition of leisure only after retirement.
It is this way of living that will disappear. Even with the Federal funds for new housing, there is little chance of new or renovated houses will be owned without debt. It is too expensive to build now.If nothing else, the higher standards of the new International Building Code are superb, but also very expensive. There must be an alternative or there will be very few "paid off" houses. Everyone will have a mortgage, which will need to be sustained by hard work- and it is this that will undermine the culture of New Orleans.
What can be done? Somehow the building culture that created the original New Orleans must be reinstated. The hurdle of drawings, permitting, contractors, inspections-the professionalism of it all- eliminates self-building. Somehow there must be a process whereupon people can build simple, functional houses for themselves, either by themselves, or by barter with professionals. There must be free house designs that can be built in small stages, and that do not require an architect, complicated permits or inspections; there must becommon- sense technical standards. Without this, there will be the pall of debt for everyone. And debt in the Caribbean doesn't mean owing money- it is the elimination of the culture that arises from leisure.
To start, I would recommend an experimental "opt-out zone." Areas where one "contracts out" of the current American system, which consists of the nanny-state raising standards to the point that it is so expensive and complicated to build that only the nanny state can provide affordable housing-solving a problem that the state created in the first place.
However it may sound, this proposal is not so odd. Until recently, this was the way that built America from the Atlantic to the Pacific.For three centuries Americans built for themselves. They built well enough-so long as it was theirs. Individual responsibility could be trusted.We must return to this as an option.
Of course, this is not for everybody. There are plenty of people in New Orleans who undergo the conventional American eight-hour day. But the culture of this city does not flow from them; they may provide the backbone of New Orleans, but not its heart.
An editorial
DRAFT NOVEMBER 22, 2006
RESTORING THE REAL NEW ORLEANS
Like so many others, I have long been a visitor to New Orleans. In my case, since 1979, when we studied the city to influence the design of the new town of Seaside. I have been back often--for New Orleans is one of the best places to learn architecture and urbanism in the United States. My emphasis on design might seem unusual, but it shouldn't be, for the design of New Orleans is of a quality and character comparable to the music and the cuisine that receives most of the attention.
All those visits, I regret to admit that I did not get to know the people--not really. The New Orleanians I met were doing their jobs but not necessarily being themselves. Such is the experience of the tourist. This all changed when Katrina brought me back in the role of planner. Engaging the planning process brought me face to face with the reality.
Apart from the misconceptions of the tourist, I had also been predisposed by the media to think of New Orleans in a certain way:that was as a charming, but lackadaisical and fundamentally misgoverned place that had been subjected to unwarranted devastation, with a great deal of anger and resentment as a result. That is indeed what I found at first; but as I engaged in the planning process I came to realize that the anger that I witnessed was relative. It was much less, for example, than the bitterness that one encounters in the typical California city with nothing more than traffic gripes.The people of New Orleans have an underlying sweetness, a sense of humor, and irony, and graciousness that is never far below the surface. These were not hard people.
Pondering this one day, I had an additional insight. I remember specifically when on a street in the Marigny I came upon a colorful little house framed by banana trees. I thought, "This is Cuba," (I am Cuban). I realized in that instant that New Orleans is not really an American city, but rather a Caribbean one. I understood that when seen through the lens of the Caribbean, New Orleans is not among the most haphazard, poorest or misgoverned American cities, but rather the most organized, wealthiest, cleanest, and competently governed of the Caribbean cities. This insight was fundamental because from that moment I understood New Orleans and began to truly sympathize. But even government? Like everyone, I found government in this city to be a bit random; but then I thought that if New Orleans were to be governed as efficiently as, say, Minneapolis, it would be a different place-and not one that I could care for. Let me work with the government the way it is. It is the human flaw that makes New Orleans the most human of American cities. (New Orleans came to feel so much like Cuba that I was driven to buy a house in the Marigny as a surrogate for my inaccessible Santiago de Cuba.)
When understood as Caribbean, New Orleans' culture seems ever more precious--and vulnerable to the effects of Katrina. Anxiety about cultural loss is not new. There has been a great deal of anguish regarding the diminishment of the black population, and how without it New Orleans could not regain itself. Just so. But I fear that the situation is more dire and less controllable. I am afraid that even if the majority of the population does return to reinhabit its neighborhoods, it will not mean that New Orleans, or at least the culture of New Orleans, will be back. The reason is not political, but technical. You see, the lost housing of New Orleans is quite special. Entering the damaged and abandoned houses you can still see what they were like before the hurricane. These houses were exceedingly inexpensive to live in. They were houses that were hand built by people's parents and grandparents, or by small builders paid in cash or by barter.Most of these simple, pleasant, houses were paid off. They had to be, because they do not meet any sort of code, and are therefore not mortgageable by current standards.
I think that it was possible to sustain the culture unique to New Orleans because housing costs were minimal. These houses liberated people from debt.One did not have to work a great deal to get by.There was the possibility of leisure. There was time to create the fabulously complex Creole dishes that simmer forever; there was time to practice music, to play it live rather than from recordings, and time to listen to it. There was time to make costumes and to parade; there was time to party and to tell stories; there was time to spend all day marking the passing of friends. One way to leisure time is to have a low financial carry. With a little work, a little help from the government, and a little help from family and friends-life could be good! This is a typically Caribbean social contract: not one to be understood as laziness or poverty-but as a way of life.
This ease, which has been so misunderstood in the national scrutiny following the hurricane, is the Caribbean way. It is a lifestyle choice and there is nothing intrinsically wrong with it. In fact, it is the envy of some of us who work all our lives to attain the condition of leisure only after retirement.
It is this way of living that will disappear. Even with the Federal funds for new housing, there is little chance of new or renovated houses will be owned without debt. It is too expensive to build now.If nothing else, the higher standards of the new International Building Code are superb, but also very expensive. There must be an alternative or there will be very few "paid off" houses. Everyone will have a mortgage, which will need to be sustained by hard work- and it is this that will undermine the culture of New Orleans.
What can be done? Somehow the building culture that created the original New Orleans must be reinstated. The hurdle of drawings, permitting, contractors, inspections-the professionalism of it all- eliminates self-building. Somehow there must be a process whereupon people can build simple, functional houses for themselves, either by themselves, or by barter with professionals. There must be free house designs that can be built in small stages, and that do not require an architect, complicated permits or inspections; there must becommon- sense technical standards. Without this, there will be the pall of debt for everyone. And debt in the Caribbean doesn't mean owing money- it is the elimination of the culture that arises from leisure.
To start, I would recommend an experimental "opt-out zone." Areas where one "contracts out" of the current American system, which consists of the nanny-state raising standards to the point that it is so expensive and complicated to build that only the nanny state can provide affordable housing-solving a problem that the state created in the first place.
However it may sound, this proposal is not so odd. Until recently, this was the way that built America from the Atlantic to the Pacific.For three centuries Americans built for themselves. They built well enough-so long as it was theirs. Individual responsibility could be trusted.We must return to this as an option.
Of course, this is not for everybody. There are plenty of people in New Orleans who undergo the conventional American eight-hour day. But the culture of this city does not flow from them; they may provide the backbone of New Orleans, but not its heart.
Friday, December 1, 2006
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
National Column - As We Add Millions How Do We Stay Mobile? (Washington Post, 11/26/2006, found by Michael Lau)
NEAL PEIRCE COLUMN
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Washington Post
AS WE ADD MILLIONS: HOW DO WE STAY MOBILE?
By Neal Peirce
By 2043, we're being told, there won't just be 300 million of us -- there'll be 400 million. With the roadways around our metropolitan regions increasingly clogged, how will we ever stay mobile? Depending on the tea leaves you choose, some vividly contrasting futures emerge.
Vision No. 1 is "stay the course." Keep driving as we have.
In 1980, 64.4 percent of us drove to work alone; in 2000 it was 75.7 percent, according to the Transportation Research Board's recent "Commuting in America" survey by Alan Pisarski.
The statistics are disturbing. Carpooling dipped from 19.7 percent to 12.2 percent in the same years. Transit use went from 6.2 percent to 4.6 percent. And walking dropped from 5.6 percent to 2.9 percent, as workplace locations exploded out (along with our waistlines). A car-wheeled world is what Americans choose. Argument over, say some.
But wait a minute. Already there's the pain of stretched out commutes; the 16 hours of delay the average motorist experienced in 1982 was 47 hours in 2003. Traffic congestion is costing us, cumulatively, 3.7 billion hours of travel delay, wasting over 2 billion gallons of fuel each year. Plus, if Americans like highways so much, why do we so often and so fervidly resist increases in gas taxes to pay for them?
Which brings us to Vision No. 2. We privatize. We invite the private sector to take over roads -- and then charge us. This is the hottest new trend, discussed intensely by governors, state transportation officials and state legislators. Multi-billion dollar roadway investments by private financing firms are increasing fast. We've reached what transportation expert C. Kenneth Orski calls a critical "tipping point."
Some of the moves are primarily revenue moves. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley negotiated a 99-year lease of the eight-mile Chicago Skyway toll road to foreign investors for $1.8 billion. In New Jersey, there's active consideration of leasing the 148-mile New Jersey Turnpike and 173-mile Garden State Parkway to garner revenue to meet a mushrooming state debt of some $33 billion.
In Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels weathered a storm of political skepticism to lease the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road, again to foreign investors, for $3.85 billion. Indiana is now the nation's only state with a fully-funded 10-year highway building capital program. But the even greater import of the new trend, Orski suggests, will be private funds for new "greenfield projects" including express toll lanes, new stand-alone toll roads (the ambitious Trans-Texas-Corridor is the top example), and multi-state truckways.
The timing for tollways should be perfect -- with today's technology, automated toll collection systems (like E-ZPass on the East Coast) take the daily aggravation out of the process. But still, says Thomas Downs, president of the Eno Transportation Foundation, politicos will have to face deep public doubts about selling off public assets, or explaining why they condemn peoples' homes and farms to build for-profit roads. The negative politics have already registered in this fall's elections. Indiana voters' displeasure with Daniels' tollway lease deal apparently caused the defeats of several of his fellow Republicans for Congress and the legislature. Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who made leasing of the Ohio Turnpike a mainstay of his campaign, was decisively defeated in the governor's race.
And then there's backlash when financing projections go awry. A private firm, for example, recently reversed field by telling Virginia officials it would need $100 million in public funds to build and run high-occupancy toll lanes on a 14-mile stretch of the Capital Beltway outside Washington. "These projects come out of the blue, and then they jump to the front of the line," complained Stewart Schwarz, director of the Washington area's Coalition for Smarter Growth.
The vision of privatized roads has more downsides. It assumes there's no problem with continuing to pave over so much of our continent. Given today's heavy auto ownership, 37 square miles need to be paved over, and 1,400 miles of interstate-grade highway built, for every 1 million new people. All too often, the new roads carve up fertile farmlands surrounding metro areas. This country already has some 4 million miles of roads, enough, the Earth Policy Institute calculates, to circle the Earth at the equator 157 times.
And what about oil? In a nation richly endowed with reserves, we've largely depleted that treasure. In 1980, 37 percent of our oil was imported from OPEC and other nations; today figure's 60 percent and rising. Our national security is deeply imperiled.
So is there a Vision No. 3? Yes, there's a set of tea leaves that says so -- the vote of many Americans, earlier this month, to support new and expanded public transit. Transit proposals with cumulative value of $40 billion were approved from Rhode Island to Minnesota, Missouri to Utah to California.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Washington Post
AS WE ADD MILLIONS: HOW DO WE STAY MOBILE?
By Neal Peirce
By 2043, we're being told, there won't just be 300 million of us -- there'll be 400 million. With the roadways around our metropolitan regions increasingly clogged, how will we ever stay mobile? Depending on the tea leaves you choose, some vividly contrasting futures emerge.
Vision No. 1 is "stay the course." Keep driving as we have.
In 1980, 64.4 percent of us drove to work alone; in 2000 it was 75.7 percent, according to the Transportation Research Board's recent "Commuting in America" survey by Alan Pisarski.
The statistics are disturbing. Carpooling dipped from 19.7 percent to 12.2 percent in the same years. Transit use went from 6.2 percent to 4.6 percent. And walking dropped from 5.6 percent to 2.9 percent, as workplace locations exploded out (along with our waistlines). A car-wheeled world is what Americans choose. Argument over, say some.
But wait a minute. Already there's the pain of stretched out commutes; the 16 hours of delay the average motorist experienced in 1982 was 47 hours in 2003. Traffic congestion is costing us, cumulatively, 3.7 billion hours of travel delay, wasting over 2 billion gallons of fuel each year. Plus, if Americans like highways so much, why do we so often and so fervidly resist increases in gas taxes to pay for them?
Which brings us to Vision No. 2. We privatize. We invite the private sector to take over roads -- and then charge us. This is the hottest new trend, discussed intensely by governors, state transportation officials and state legislators. Multi-billion dollar roadway investments by private financing firms are increasing fast. We've reached what transportation expert C. Kenneth Orski calls a critical "tipping point."
Some of the moves are primarily revenue moves. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley negotiated a 99-year lease of the eight-mile Chicago Skyway toll road to foreign investors for $1.8 billion. In New Jersey, there's active consideration of leasing the 148-mile New Jersey Turnpike and 173-mile Garden State Parkway to garner revenue to meet a mushrooming state debt of some $33 billion.
In Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels weathered a storm of political skepticism to lease the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road, again to foreign investors, for $3.85 billion. Indiana is now the nation's only state with a fully-funded 10-year highway building capital program. But the even greater import of the new trend, Orski suggests, will be private funds for new "greenfield projects" including express toll lanes, new stand-alone toll roads (the ambitious Trans-Texas-Corridor is the top example), and multi-state truckways.
The timing for tollways should be perfect -- with today's technology, automated toll collection systems (like E-ZPass on the East Coast) take the daily aggravation out of the process. But still, says Thomas Downs, president of the Eno Transportation Foundation, politicos will have to face deep public doubts about selling off public assets, or explaining why they condemn peoples' homes and farms to build for-profit roads. The negative politics have already registered in this fall's elections. Indiana voters' displeasure with Daniels' tollway lease deal apparently caused the defeats of several of his fellow Republicans for Congress and the legislature. Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who made leasing of the Ohio Turnpike a mainstay of his campaign, was decisively defeated in the governor's race.
And then there's backlash when financing projections go awry. A private firm, for example, recently reversed field by telling Virginia officials it would need $100 million in public funds to build and run high-occupancy toll lanes on a 14-mile stretch of the Capital Beltway outside Washington. "These projects come out of the blue, and then they jump to the front of the line," complained Stewart Schwarz, director of the Washington area's Coalition for Smarter Growth.
The vision of privatized roads has more downsides. It assumes there's no problem with continuing to pave over so much of our continent. Given today's heavy auto ownership, 37 square miles need to be paved over, and 1,400 miles of interstate-grade highway built, for every 1 million new people. All too often, the new roads carve up fertile farmlands surrounding metro areas. This country already has some 4 million miles of roads, enough, the Earth Policy Institute calculates, to circle the Earth at the equator 157 times.
And what about oil? In a nation richly endowed with reserves, we've largely depleted that treasure. In 1980, 37 percent of our oil was imported from OPEC and other nations; today figure's 60 percent and rising. Our national security is deeply imperiled.
So is there a Vision No. 3? Yes, there's a set of tea leaves that says so -- the vote of many Americans, earlier this month, to support new and expanded public transit. Transit proposals with cumulative value of $40 billion were approved from Rhode Island to Minnesota, Missouri to Utah to California.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Monday, October 16, 2006
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Cashiers News - Havens Highlands & Cashiers (New York Times, 09/30/2006, found by Pete Musty)
September 30, 2005
HAVENS Highlands and Cashiers, N.C.; On the Blue Ridge, Twin Towns Draw a Younger Crowd
By DENISE KIERNAN
HIGHWAY 64 rises on the one-hour drive from Asheville, N.C., to the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As it climbs, the cool mountain air and the wide expanse of sky offer a sense of refuge for those arriving from hot, sticky cities like Atlanta and Charleston.
That sense of refuge has drawn Southerners to homes in the twin towns of Highlands and Cashiers for well over a century. But now, with more and more part-time residents staying beyond the summer and a younger, more active set of homeowners over all, it may no longer be true to say that Highlands-Cashiers is one of the best-kept second-home secrets in the nation.
Once, the towns' trademark feature was their several golf communities for retirees, said Ann McKee Austin, a local real estate agent. But now, she said, you're likelier to see ''the S.U.V. with the Labrador in the back and the kayak on top.'' Or, as Cathy Garren, another real estate agent, put it: ''It used to be retirees from Florida. Now it's working people from Atlanta.''
They come for the mild weather and for the lush forests and waterfalls set amid stunning mountain silhouettes. But despite the climate and the setting, relative distance from big cities has helped to keep real estate prices from skyrocketing; local agents say that in the last five years, prices have increased from 12 to 20 percent. ''This is not a boom or bust area, where you have windfall years and then slack years,'' Ms. Austin said. ''It's consistent and steady. We like it that way. It's not some kind of new, made-up town on the coast of Florida.''
The Scene
Highlands and Cashiers (pronounced CASH-ers) are equally affluent fraternal twins, nestled in the midst of the Nantahala National Forest. The area has been used as a summer retreat since the mid-1800's, when wealthy families from the Low Country of South Carolina began putting up summer cottages and modest Greek Revival houses there. The town of Highlands was founded in 1875 by Kansas developers who, the story goes, drew two lines on a map, one from Chicago to Savannah, the other from New York City to New Orleans, believing that the intersection would be ideal for trade.
Today, if there is a difference between the two towns, it is that Cashiers is a little bit country, Highlands a little bit country club. Highlands, fittingly, is also higher, at an elevation of 4,113 feet to Cashiers's 3,500 feet. New homes in both towns tend to be large houses located either in gated communities or on estate lots of five acres or more.
Highlands has a proper Main Street, which draws strolling day-trippers in khakis and polo shirts. But both towns offer plenty of boutique shopping and local crafts. For activities, there's a lot to do, from pampering to playing in the rugged outdoors. You can indulge in a massage at the spa of the Old Edwards Inn on Main Street in Highlands or play croquet on the lawn of the Chattooga Club in Cashiers. Or you can climb the sheer face of Whiteside Mountain, hike to the 411-foot-tall Whitewater Falls or fish on Lake Glenville.
Mike Hays, who owns an insurance agency in Sarasota, Fla., lived between the two towns for five years and is buying a new home in Cashiers.
''I like living in Cashiers and going to Highlands,'' said Mr. Hays, a 36-year-old father of two young children. ''We've got a mountain double-jog-stroller, and we take the kids hiking with us. We go out for ice cream, We play in the yard. We're at home.'' Mr. Hays's family comes back to the area in the fall for the colors and at Thanksgiving.
Sue Gail, originally from England, lives most of the year in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and found herself at Highlands Falls Country Club in 2001, after her husband, a developer, began working on projects in the area.
Ms. Gail, 60, started the Highlands Film Festival, which just completed its second year. She and her husband spend several months in Highlands in the summer; she says many residents she knows are spending more and more time there. ''It's beautiful,'' she said. ''People are so wonderful up here. It's a rejuvenating getaway.''
Pros
Property taxes vary but are relatively low (an example: $1,485 a year on a $1,675,000 house on 6.94 acres). Views are long, summers are mild and breezy, and fall features a mind-boggling palette of colors.
There are many golf courses of distinction in the area. Bobby Jones spent several summers at the Highlands Country Club, and he still holds the course record. The Wade Hampton Club, designed by a golf course guru and area resident, Tom Fazio, was ranked 17th in the United States by Golf Digest in 2005.
Outdoor Magazine ranked Cashiers one of America's ''top dream towns'' in 2004.
If exerting yourself is not a priority, there are plenty of shops and restaurants in both towns, or you can hop into your car and go for a scenic drive.
Cons
Anything that travels to the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau takes the same twisting drive, and getting stuck behind a land-yacht can add time and nausea to your trip.
Unincorporated Cashiers is dry, though brown-bagging is permitted practically everywhere. Alcohol can be bought in Highlands, which is incorporated, but laws there are complicated (some restaurants can serve wine, but not beer). Nevertheless, many club communities have stocked bars and restaurants, and private restaurant clubs (membership fees range from a dollar a year to more than $100) have full permits.
Some of the restaurants and shops shut down during the winter, and even in summer, things close early. ''We do have some great restaurants,'' said Debi Dickson, an Atlanta resident who spends four months a year in Highlands. ''Just don't expect to eat at them at 10 p.m.''
The Real Estate Market
Expect to spend at least $700,000 to buy into one of the high-end, full-amenity gated communities. (Many of the club amenities in those communities close in the winter.) Houses at that price will probably not include a view or a fancy kitchen. At about $900,000, you can begin to have a house with everything: views, granite countertops, extensive decks, three bedrooms, an acre of land. Styles vary, but variations on Adirondack, Shingle-style and English cottage are popular.
Bargains can still be found in some of the smaller, older cottages in the woods, especially if you're willing to be 10 to 15 miles outside town. With some searching, you can perhaps find a little bungalow, a ranch or an A-frame in the $200,000-to-$400,000 range with two or three bedrooms, depending on the condition and age of the home.
It's not unusual for a house to stay on the market for six months because of the seasonal nature of home sales. Ms. Austin recently sold a three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath, 1,962-square-foot Shingle-style house on 3.47 acres in the Chattooga Club. It had another 1,069 square feet in porches and decks, views and included many antiques. It was listed at $2,295,000 and sold 35 days later for $2,245,000.
Ms. Garren recently sold a 30-year-old three-bedroom, three-bath house on .81 acres in a subdivision for $440,000. It was on the market for 64 days.
There is a good deal of new high-end construction in the area, more than 3,000 acres in and around Cashiers alone. But agents suspect that the out-of-the-way location of Highlands-Cashiers, although attractive, keeps prices and development from spiraling out of control.
''We don't want the fudge factories, the T-shirt shops and water slides,'' Ms. Austin said.
LAY OF THE LAND
POPULATION -- The Highlands area has about 3,000 year-round residents and about 20,000 in season. The area around Cashiers has 1,700 year-round residents and about 10,000 in season.
LOCATION -- Western North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains, roughly 80 miles southwest of Asheville.
WHO'S BUYING -- Retirees with a love of golf who park themselves there for the summer and wealthy pre-retirees from nearby Atlanta who use their homes throughout the year. Still a favorite of Southerners, but Midwesterners are starting to stop in.
GETTING THERE -- Asheville's airport is the closest at about 60 miles, roughly an hour and a half drive. The Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport is a two-hour drive away in South Carolina. Atlanta is a two-and-a-half-hour drive away.
WHILE YOU'RE LOOKING -- The Old Edwards Inn and Spa (445 Main Street, 866-526-8008) on Main Street in Highlands offers Swedish massage packages, upscale shops and fine dining in Madison's Restaurant and Wine Garden. Its 30 rooms, suites and cottages start at $235.
COMPARABLES Mountains Where Weekenders Find Reasons to Stay All Week Information on properties was supplied by the listing companies.
WHAT -- 3-bedroom house HOW MUCH -- $435,000 This 2,200-square-foot house in Highlands was built in 1995. It has three bathrooms, decks and mountain views. The property is 4.66 acres. Agent: Cathy Garren, Century 21 Mountain Lifestyles, (828)743-7999; www.c21mountainlifestyles.com.
WHAT -- 3-bedroom house HOW MUCH -- $745,000 This 3,400-square-foot house is within walking distance of Main Street in Highlands. It was built in 2001 and has two gas fireplaces and three and a half bathrooms. The property is .68 acres and has a small stream and an artificial waterfall. Broker: Wick Ashburn, Coldwell Banker Ashburn Real Estate, (828)526-4151; www.ashburnrealestate.com.
WHAT -- 4-bedroom house HOW MUCH -- $1,999,999 This 5,374-square-foot Cashiers house was built in 2000 and expanded in 2003. It has six fireplaces, including two gas ones in the master suite; a greenhouse; and four full and two half bathrooms. The property is 3.49 acres at an elevation of 4,350 feet. Agent: Terri Hammond and Beth Townsend, McKee Properties, (828)743-3411; www.mckeeproperties.com.
Correction: October 7, 2005, Friday A picture caption with the Havens column last Friday about Highlands and Cashiers, N.C., misidentified a golf course in the area. It was the Highlands Falls Country Club. (The Highlands Country Club is nearby.) A property tax example cited in the column, for a house priced at $1,675,000 on a 6.94-acre lot, was in error. The house in the example has not been assessed since it was completed. The figure $1,485 was for the tax on the land before the house was built.
HAVENS Highlands and Cashiers, N.C.; On the Blue Ridge, Twin Towns Draw a Younger Crowd
By DENISE KIERNAN
HIGHWAY 64 rises on the one-hour drive from Asheville, N.C., to the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As it climbs, the cool mountain air and the wide expanse of sky offer a sense of refuge for those arriving from hot, sticky cities like Atlanta and Charleston.
That sense of refuge has drawn Southerners to homes in the twin towns of Highlands and Cashiers for well over a century. But now, with more and more part-time residents staying beyond the summer and a younger, more active set of homeowners over all, it may no longer be true to say that Highlands-Cashiers is one of the best-kept second-home secrets in the nation.
Once, the towns' trademark feature was their several golf communities for retirees, said Ann McKee Austin, a local real estate agent. But now, she said, you're likelier to see ''the S.U.V. with the Labrador in the back and the kayak on top.'' Or, as Cathy Garren, another real estate agent, put it: ''It used to be retirees from Florida. Now it's working people from Atlanta.''
They come for the mild weather and for the lush forests and waterfalls set amid stunning mountain silhouettes. But despite the climate and the setting, relative distance from big cities has helped to keep real estate prices from skyrocketing; local agents say that in the last five years, prices have increased from 12 to 20 percent. ''This is not a boom or bust area, where you have windfall years and then slack years,'' Ms. Austin said. ''It's consistent and steady. We like it that way. It's not some kind of new, made-up town on the coast of Florida.''
The Scene
Highlands and Cashiers (pronounced CASH-ers) are equally affluent fraternal twins, nestled in the midst of the Nantahala National Forest. The area has been used as a summer retreat since the mid-1800's, when wealthy families from the Low Country of South Carolina began putting up summer cottages and modest Greek Revival houses there. The town of Highlands was founded in 1875 by Kansas developers who, the story goes, drew two lines on a map, one from Chicago to Savannah, the other from New York City to New Orleans, believing that the intersection would be ideal for trade.
Today, if there is a difference between the two towns, it is that Cashiers is a little bit country, Highlands a little bit country club. Highlands, fittingly, is also higher, at an elevation of 4,113 feet to Cashiers's 3,500 feet. New homes in both towns tend to be large houses located either in gated communities or on estate lots of five acres or more.
Highlands has a proper Main Street, which draws strolling day-trippers in khakis and polo shirts. But both towns offer plenty of boutique shopping and local crafts. For activities, there's a lot to do, from pampering to playing in the rugged outdoors. You can indulge in a massage at the spa of the Old Edwards Inn on Main Street in Highlands or play croquet on the lawn of the Chattooga Club in Cashiers. Or you can climb the sheer face of Whiteside Mountain, hike to the 411-foot-tall Whitewater Falls or fish on Lake Glenville.
Mike Hays, who owns an insurance agency in Sarasota, Fla., lived between the two towns for five years and is buying a new home in Cashiers.
''I like living in Cashiers and going to Highlands,'' said Mr. Hays, a 36-year-old father of two young children. ''We've got a mountain double-jog-stroller, and we take the kids hiking with us. We go out for ice cream, We play in the yard. We're at home.'' Mr. Hays's family comes back to the area in the fall for the colors and at Thanksgiving.
Sue Gail, originally from England, lives most of the year in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and found herself at Highlands Falls Country Club in 2001, after her husband, a developer, began working on projects in the area.
Ms. Gail, 60, started the Highlands Film Festival, which just completed its second year. She and her husband spend several months in Highlands in the summer; she says many residents she knows are spending more and more time there. ''It's beautiful,'' she said. ''People are so wonderful up here. It's a rejuvenating getaway.''
Pros
Property taxes vary but are relatively low (an example: $1,485 a year on a $1,675,000 house on 6.94 acres). Views are long, summers are mild and breezy, and fall features a mind-boggling palette of colors.
There are many golf courses of distinction in the area. Bobby Jones spent several summers at the Highlands Country Club, and he still holds the course record. The Wade Hampton Club, designed by a golf course guru and area resident, Tom Fazio, was ranked 17th in the United States by Golf Digest in 2005.
Outdoor Magazine ranked Cashiers one of America's ''top dream towns'' in 2004.
If exerting yourself is not a priority, there are plenty of shops and restaurants in both towns, or you can hop into your car and go for a scenic drive.
Cons
Anything that travels to the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau takes the same twisting drive, and getting stuck behind a land-yacht can add time and nausea to your trip.
Unincorporated Cashiers is dry, though brown-bagging is permitted practically everywhere. Alcohol can be bought in Highlands, which is incorporated, but laws there are complicated (some restaurants can serve wine, but not beer). Nevertheless, many club communities have stocked bars and restaurants, and private restaurant clubs (membership fees range from a dollar a year to more than $100) have full permits.
Some of the restaurants and shops shut down during the winter, and even in summer, things close early. ''We do have some great restaurants,'' said Debi Dickson, an Atlanta resident who spends four months a year in Highlands. ''Just don't expect to eat at them at 10 p.m.''
The Real Estate Market
Expect to spend at least $700,000 to buy into one of the high-end, full-amenity gated communities. (Many of the club amenities in those communities close in the winter.) Houses at that price will probably not include a view or a fancy kitchen. At about $900,000, you can begin to have a house with everything: views, granite countertops, extensive decks, three bedrooms, an acre of land. Styles vary, but variations on Adirondack, Shingle-style and English cottage are popular.
Bargains can still be found in some of the smaller, older cottages in the woods, especially if you're willing to be 10 to 15 miles outside town. With some searching, you can perhaps find a little bungalow, a ranch or an A-frame in the $200,000-to-$400,000 range with two or three bedrooms, depending on the condition and age of the home.
It's not unusual for a house to stay on the market for six months because of the seasonal nature of home sales. Ms. Austin recently sold a three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath, 1,962-square-foot Shingle-style house on 3.47 acres in the Chattooga Club. It had another 1,069 square feet in porches and decks, views and included many antiques. It was listed at $2,295,000 and sold 35 days later for $2,245,000.
Ms. Garren recently sold a 30-year-old three-bedroom, three-bath house on .81 acres in a subdivision for $440,000. It was on the market for 64 days.
There is a good deal of new high-end construction in the area, more than 3,000 acres in and around Cashiers alone. But agents suspect that the out-of-the-way location of Highlands-Cashiers, although attractive, keeps prices and development from spiraling out of control.
''We don't want the fudge factories, the T-shirt shops and water slides,'' Ms. Austin said.
LAY OF THE LAND
POPULATION -- The Highlands area has about 3,000 year-round residents and about 20,000 in season. The area around Cashiers has 1,700 year-round residents and about 10,000 in season.
LOCATION -- Western North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains, roughly 80 miles southwest of Asheville.
WHO'S BUYING -- Retirees with a love of golf who park themselves there for the summer and wealthy pre-retirees from nearby Atlanta who use their homes throughout the year. Still a favorite of Southerners, but Midwesterners are starting to stop in.
GETTING THERE -- Asheville's airport is the closest at about 60 miles, roughly an hour and a half drive. The Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport is a two-hour drive away in South Carolina. Atlanta is a two-and-a-half-hour drive away.
WHILE YOU'RE LOOKING -- The Old Edwards Inn and Spa (445 Main Street, 866-526-8008) on Main Street in Highlands offers Swedish massage packages, upscale shops and fine dining in Madison's Restaurant and Wine Garden. Its 30 rooms, suites and cottages start at $235.
COMPARABLES Mountains Where Weekenders Find Reasons to Stay All Week Information on properties was supplied by the listing companies.
WHAT -- 3-bedroom house HOW MUCH -- $435,000 This 2,200-square-foot house in Highlands was built in 1995. It has three bathrooms, decks and mountain views. The property is 4.66 acres. Agent: Cathy Garren, Century 21 Mountain Lifestyles, (828)743-7999; www.c21mountainlifestyles.com.
WHAT -- 3-bedroom house HOW MUCH -- $745,000 This 3,400-square-foot house is within walking distance of Main Street in Highlands. It was built in 2001 and has two gas fireplaces and three and a half bathrooms. The property is .68 acres and has a small stream and an artificial waterfall. Broker: Wick Ashburn, Coldwell Banker Ashburn Real Estate, (828)526-4151; www.ashburnrealestate.com.
WHAT -- 4-bedroom house HOW MUCH -- $1,999,999 This 5,374-square-foot Cashiers house was built in 2000 and expanded in 2003. It has six fireplaces, including two gas ones in the master suite; a greenhouse; and four full and two half bathrooms. The property is 3.49 acres at an elevation of 4,350 feet. Agent: Terri Hammond and Beth Townsend, McKee Properties, (828)743-3411; www.mckeeproperties.com.
Correction: October 7, 2005, Friday A picture caption with the Havens column last Friday about Highlands and Cashiers, N.C., misidentified a golf course in the area. It was the Highlands Falls Country Club. (The Highlands Country Club is nearby.) A property tax example cited in the column, for a house priced at $1,675,000 on a 6.94-acre lot, was in error. The house in the example has not been assessed since it was completed. The figure $1,485 was for the tax on the land before the house was built.
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