As a New Urbanist, cul-de-sacs are not one of my favorite neighborhood elements (we like connecting streets, not dead ends). But as I looked over many of the current neighborhoods that we’re working in, I have to admit that cul-de-sacs are a fact of life.

It makes sense to situate a Family Camp on a cul-de-sac, anyway. By it’s very nature, a CDS already stands out from the rest of the neighborhood. Why not make that more of a positive. Instead of a lonely grouping of houses, a Camp would serve as a community focal spot. Through a simple narrowing of the street and some nice plantings, the entry into a new housing area can be accentuated.

The reason for CDS’s are to turn a fire engine around safely and quickly. We have tried to retain that element and keep the homes to within 150 feet of road access.

Concept 1
The first issue to work out in an American Camp is parking. We Americans are tied to our cars probably more than any culture. Like it or not, neighborhood designers avoid them at their peril. In a family camp situation, there is a competing factor – the safety of our children. As soon as we let cars in the gate, so to speak, real danger is let in, too. It is therefore very important to separate the cars from children. In this scenario, we have kept the cars on the outside. Sure, this is a bit of an inconvenience if you’re carrying groceries but one that many people without attached garages seem to overcome all the time. I think people who are drawn to family camps would not mind this sacrifice. There are 2 spaces per unit and a few visitor spots left over. The fire engine turning radius of the CDS is maintained.

From your car, you would enter into the camp via one of the two conveniently placed gates. The entire garden space is enclosed for safety. From the gates you would have a view of all of your immediate neighbors front doors. Coming home is a leisurely walk through beautifully landscaped common gardens. The very nature of the cul-de-sac divides the land into two mirrored parts. This breaks up the Camp into two separate but similar housing parts. This actually makes the two smaller communities (5 – 6 homes) into nice manageable sizes. Each side would have a common garden area in the front that would include a play area for the kids. In between the two clusters of homes would be the larger communal elements: a pool, community building, and a green field for tossing a ball or a picnic.

One aspect of this scenario that separates this concept from the Swedish Camp is the ability to have a small “backyard”. This would simply be a place to have a more private patio space to grill out or have guests over. This gives a family some flexibility. While the kids are out playing, I think most people would elect to sit out front and socialize, but at other times, you could have more private times out back. Whether this back area was fenced off or not could be up for debate among the residents.

Concept 2
This design works in much the same way as the previous concept but has each house cluster facing a common space. This concept improves the sense of community but may take away some sense of privacy. I like the fact that the homes are not looking directly out on each other – that there is a slight angle to the common space. The two homes on the right of each cluster could have a small picket fence in the back to delineate a more private space.

Concept 3
This design uses a large radius T turn around for fire engine access. This T becomes the parkign area for a 10 home family camp. In this scenario, the homes create a barrier between the front public area and the combined park area in the back. This design essentially creates a common enclosed backyard to be shared among the residents.

Concept 4
This is another T scenario. This also creates shared backyard common areas. In this design, each side of the street becomes its own camp. However, these could share a common pool and community house. This design lacks the nice communal front gardens but has immediate access to your car. Architecturally, this scenario might work well as town-homes.

The Family Camp, Traditional Street Style

We first started playing around with the family camp idea as urban infill. I still think that it is perfect for older established neighborhoods but finding large empty lots in existing neighborhoods can be daunting and expensive. However, adding this type of housing to new neighborhoods is also a worthwhile effort. In a New Urbanist type of neighborhood, this will increase densities so that other amenities such as restaurants, shops, and community spaces can thrive. This Family Camp is a perfect balance between traditional street grid development and more dense town-homes and apartments.

Concept 5
The central idea behind this type of family camp is to have a center courtyard for all. There are a variety of housing types represented. To the North is a row of 4 two story homes, living down and bedrooms up. To the street these are very similar in nature to the rest of the neighborhood. On the south side of these homes would be porches that look out onto the green space. These would be higher and separated a bit from the gardens to afford a bit of privacy. The rest of the homes would be story and a half volumes to bring the scale down around the courtyard. All of these homes would have small back patios/porch for a private area. The courtyard itself could be programmed in a variety of ways. We’ve shown a rather large pool complex. To the southeast side is an area that is specifically for a kids play area. The house next door would be built with more sound proofing… This area is right next to the common meeting area where parents can sit and have a coffee while their kids play. The homes to the south would have fenced yards to define the public areas to the north.

Concept 6
This design concentrates the parking to the west. This frees up a bit more common space. We’ve divided the common space into a more formal garden space to the north and a more open field space to the south. A community building, again, near the play ground area is big enough to house a gym, storage, and a nice open porch for gatherings. The one ironic aspect of this plan, is that the owners of the homes on the streets would probably hang out on their front porch if they were looking for more privacy. This concept has a little more breathing space between the units. While a couple look into the side of a home, most of these have nice views out to the common areas – not directly across to residents as in the interior units of concept 5. The ones with the side views actually have a little more privacy at the ends – something that some residents would prefer.

Concept 7
This design is similar to Concept 6 but simplifies the parking, adds a pool, and consolidates four of the interior units into one larger multifamily unit. This unit affords even more common space – especially the smaller areas where cozy play areas for the kids exist While multifamily units may be a regulatory headache, they certainly afford more overall room and amenities for everyone. These units may be perfect for single parents who might need as much space. The pool area is enclosed completely as law demands. When surrounded by nice plantings, this becomes a very nice framing tool for the gardens separating the parking area nicely.

After reviewing some of the neighborhoods in which my own bungalow home plans have been built, I have a strategy for these builders. All you need to do, is reserve 6-8 of your lots for one of these camp developments. A Camp could fit in a normal block or at the end of a cul-de-sac. Instead of building 6-8 homes, you would be able to build 10-12 homes instead.

Building a Camp

Start Right
First , I would hope that you would consult with my firm to layout your entire neighborhood. Use our home plans or not. I see so many uninspiring neighborhood plans that could be made better so easily with some tweaking. These master plans are inefficient, not scaled to humans, and boring. However, if we can design the neighborhood from the beginning, the end results will be outstanding. Let us help you to differentiate your neighborhood from the rest. Review and Design We will review your local codes and see what can be done to facilitate a Camp situation. Depending on how far you want to go, we can figure out ways of making these happen within the existing legal framework. – i.e. no changes to zoning or extended approvals.

Mitigating Risk
We will design a Camp (or many) within the normal neighborhood lot pattern. This is the key to reducing your risk. Infrastructure-wise we will work with your local engineers to determine if there would be any additional runoff loads, but in our preliminary studies we have determined that there should be none. In fact, there is typically 25% less hardscape associated with the camps, even with the additional homes.

Sharing the Vision
We provide detailed drawings, testimonials, and 3d visualizations so that potential customers can really know what an exceptional opportunity that they will have in the Camp. Your marketing and sales staff will secure a predetermined number of families before continuing with the final build out. These families can also have a say in what specific amenities will be provided. This is a great marketing advantage.

A Fallback Plan
Maybe the Camp idea is too far ahead of its time for your community… Simply, go back to the original master plan and fill the rest of the neighborhood in with standard single family homes.

Pros for Builders

Press
Just by trying something new, you will get loads of local press coverage. These camps can be spun to the press in many different ways: a greener way of life (reduced carbon footprint per home), a more true community (compound living brings people closer together), even as a more luxurious family living (amenities and ease of life). With any luck, you’ll have buyers waiting in line.

Easily Targeted Buyers
Families are easier to find and are more easily persuaded to do what’s right for their family. A camp is “right” for families. Families are also great spokespersons. Once one family has decided to move in, they just might bring along a few friends. PTOs, Sunday Schools, etc, these all might bring a flood of local families who are like minded and would love to live in a community.

Standardized Homes
I haven’t really gone over architectural character. In a Camp situation, similar homes are actually a good thing – less keeping up with the Joneses. It is expected that the homes will be similar. Of course, this makes it easier for a builder. In fact, with the smaller footprint usually associated with these homes, it is a perfect opportunity to explore pre-manufactured units. You could have all of the units show up and be ready in a few weeks.

More Opportunities for Upgrades
Each homes related land cost will be half of a normal lot. This will allow the builder to provide base amenities. This is also an opportunity to provide communal upgrades as well: a pool, putting green, gardens, ponds, etc. Less Infrastructure Cost per Home As stated before, the corralling of cars allows for less overall hardscape and associated costs.

Cons for Builders

Fear of the Unknown
Information is the only way to overcome buyers sometimes irrational fear. A clear Home Owners Association code book must be available. Good working examples of these communities must be cited. We can help you there.

Limited Location
You must build this Family Camp in an area where there are good schools. No matter what amenities there are, it will be a tough sell if there is a lackluster school to attend.

Pros for Families

Social Solidarity
It may or may not ” take a village to raise a child”, but I can attest to the fact that it sure makes it easier. In our busy lives today, it is tough to maintain relationships with other families. Social networks are hard to enter into unless there is a connection; with a camp situation, this is built in. You’re sharing space, so the social interaction comes naturally. When we get to know one another, we care and share.

Family Oriented Amenities and Activities
In a camp situation, there are always things to do. Rarely, at the camp, are there days that the kids complain that there is nothing to do. But when they do, I kindly show them the door and say “play outside”. They always find something to do. An having other families around, gives you great ideas. I don’t know how many times we here about something going on that we would have missed out on if we had not heard about it through our neighbors.

Shared Opportunities and Burdens
Because there are so many people in the same kiddy boat, there are many opportunities to share burdens between families: babysitting, family meals, hired help, tips, and commiserating.

Family Happiness
This is what it is all about. Your kids will have more freedom and friends than most. So will you.

Cons for Families

Not for Loners
If your family doesn’t like to mix with other folks and keep to themselves, then it is obvious that this is not the kind of living you would enjoy.

Lack of Privacy
Every family, now and then, likes to have their own time. It is a common occurrence to have kids drop by while we’re having our dinner. Sometimes we say come on in, but sometimes, we politely explain that our kids will be ready to play in a while. A good Camp would include an outdoor area that is more private.

Added Costs
While most of the amenity costs would be covered by a lower investment in housing and land, there will be some additional running costs. Most camps would have to operate under a separate Home Owners Association. This would cover the maintenance of the grounds and community buildings. However, since this cost would be split 8-12 ways, these costs would not be significant. And, because the upkeep is taken care of, there is more time to spend with family – or on the golf course.

Continue reading about Family Camps – A Design for (family) Life

Two years ago, my wife received word that she had gotten a great job in Hanoi. We were excited about moving to Asia as we were getting a bit tired of Eastern Europe and former Soviet states (my wife works with a development agency so we are used to living in some of the less developed countries in the world). I quickly headed over to Google Earth to check out Hanoi. It looked nice enough: lots of green around, hardly any cars on the streets, and the beaches were not too far away. So after saying good bye to friends and family, we headed on over. My quick estimation of Hanoi could not have been more wrong. That satellite image must have been taken at 5 AM on a Sunday morning. Hanoi is full of cars and motorbikes, very noisy, hardly a park anywhere, and it takes hours to get out of the city due to the poor roads and slow traffic. Yes, perhaps we should have done a little more research.

We soon found out that as foreigners in Hanoi, there are generally two options for neighborhoods – Ciputra and Tay Ho. Ciputra is a rather new planned neighborhood full of large houses on little land and a few high rise apartment houses, too. It has it’s good points, but it does feel like it could be placed anywhere in the world. While most Hanoi streets teem with life, Ciputra seems dead. But it is also the neighborhood where our boy would be attending school, so it had a convenience factor built in. Tay Ho was not too far way. It is a nice compromise: away from the main city, lots of local shops and locals, nice houses, but again, hardly any green space. We crossed Ciputra off the list and decided to concentrate on Tay Ho.

But we had also heard about “The Swedish Camp”. This was a small area behind the Swedish Embassy where families with Swedish connections could live. It was built roughly 20 years ago when there was nothing but rice fields around. Now, it is in the middle of the bustling city. We arrived to look around and were pleasantly surprised by large trees and lots of playing space for the kids. The actual houses were duplexes. And not very big ones at that – probably 900 square feet – 2 1/2 bedrooms by American standards. We had 2 kids who shared the same room so we thought it might work, but we decided to look around a bit more. We headed up to Tay Ho and saw many fabulous houses. But most of them had little or no yards for the kids to play. We had no idea if there were other kids around or not, but I envisioned having to escort the kids around the neighborhood because of all the motorbikes and cars. But the large square footage houses were very enticing. We couldn’t make up our minds and decided to keep looking.

On the following Saturday night, we attended Ingvar’s Bar. Ingvar is the caretaker of the Swedish Embassy and The Swedish Camp. He’s been hosting this monthly event for more than 20 years. What was once a raucous party event drawing hundreds of folks from all over the city has mellowed into a nice bar-b-que gathering for families. It was there that we first met the people living at the Camp. The one thing that we kept hearing was “the kids love it”. And as most parents know, if the kids are happy, you’ll probably be happy, too. So we moved in as soon as we could. We haven’t had any regrets. In fact, we may be forced out (the Swedish Embassy is closing down here) and now we realize that we’ll not be able to find a place like this again. At least in Hanoi.

For housing, there are four main duplex houses, 3 smaller ones and 1 bigger. Currently there are seven families living here – one unit is being used for an office. There are some amenities: a pool, a kiddie pool, a bbq/bar area, a small gym, and a guest house. The guest house is great and is almost always booked. It’s nice for visiting grandparents or friends to have their own space. There are also 2 play areas with slides, swings, and climbing things. Also a small hard surface court with poles for badminton and 2 basketball goals as well.

Amazingly enough, each family has 2 kids. Most are in the age group of 3-8. Only 4 boys and 10 girls but they all seem to get along fine. Sometimes kids from the Embassy next door come over and the playgrounds can get quite full. They spend many hours playing all kind of things outside – some active and some just sitting around with toys. When the kids are not outside, they are often busy visiting the homes of their friends.

At first, we were a bit hesitant about letting the kids just head out the door unsupervised. We’ve always been apartment people, so this was all new to the kids as well. Now, we regularly get comments from our older boy that he never wants to leave the camp and that he never wants to move back into an apartment. Our next posting may be New York, so he may be in for some disappointment. After a few weeks, we had grown to know and trust our neighbors enough to leave the kids with them for short periods and we would return the favor. It really helps that all the folks living here have kids in the same age range. We know the challenges of parenting and try to help each other out a good bit.

The Keys to a Good Camp
So what is the secret of a good Family Camp?

Other Families
I’ve alluded to this before. If this camp was 1/3 young singles, 1/3 older folks, and 1/3 families, it would not work as well. Kids can be noisy and get on the nerves of non-family folk for good reason. In turn, knowing that your kids may be upsetting folks, is also uncomfortable. Parents can relax when you know that everybody else in the neighborhood is in the same boat. When your kid has a loud meltdown, you can remember your neighbors kids worst behavior and think to yourself, “we’re not the only ones”. Likewise, when one of the kids learns to ride a bike, a younger kid learns what’s possible and quickly wants to ride, too. Sharing, the good and bad, creates community. To reiterate, I think the main reason that the Camp works so well is not the physical layout but the inhabitants shared family status. If you are a developer, you should market your new Camp to families only. Or singles only. Or retirees only. That’s not to say that one single or retiree mixed in wouldn’t work, but they would know what they’re getting into. Similarly, a family would probably not choose to move into a “Singles” community if at all possible. This is also related to the types of amenities each group might want which I’ll get into later.

Containment
This is an important issue when it comes to families. It’s all about safety. Or at least our sense of safety. This Swedish Camp has a wall around it and only one entrance, with a guard no less. This means that no outsiders can come in, which in a big city is a true concern, but also means your kids can not get out. We know that when our four year old goes out the door, there is (practically) no way the she will encounter a car or motorcycle. Her brother may run over her with his bike but that is another matter. The kids cannot wander too far off. There have been a few times at supper time when I simply could not find them. The first few times I admit I got a bit panicky. But now I know that they are somewhere within the camp. First, you go around an look in the outside spaces – usually your ears will find them first. If you don’t hear or see them, then I look for their shoes outside of the front doors. Lucky for us, both the Swedish and Vietnamese cultures look down on shoes inside. If there are no shoes outside I still do not panic because the wearing of shoes is not one of my kids strong points. Then you have to start knocking. They always show up and you usually know which friends house they have disappeared into. So for a developer, if at all possible, enclose the houses with one fence with as few entrances as possible. Since most camps will not be able to afford a full time guard, have as many eyes as possible on that entry to keep little explorers from getting out. I am sure that “free range parents” might think that this containment feature may be coddling the kids too much. I think that it is a stepping stone in the development of kids social skills. In a camp environment, small kids are more free to roam from house to house than they would be in a typical neighborhood. When they get a little older, they will hopefully demand the same freedoms on a larger scale.

Shared Space
This is the physical soul of the camp. I have been following the development of cottage communities in the US closely. Most of the built communities are devoted to singles, a group that is far overlooked and undervalued when it comes to detached homes. These houses are small – typically 500-750 sf. Common spaces are usually occupied by small herb gardens, a small grass lawn, and a community building. The common spaces are rather passively used – nice gardens to look out unto while you sit on your porch. This is perfect for singles. But most families would probably want bigger homes and more outside play space. A typical suburban neighborhood has ample outside space but I am betting that most of it rarely gets used. If you combined all of those empty yards into one common park-like space, I am sure the amount of use would more than quadruple. So? Kids that play outside get more exercise and create more friendships. Thus they are more physically fit and more socially skilled. An easily accessed, safe space where kids can be together is a treasure for families. It is perplexing why more neighborhoods are not designed with this in mind. Here at the Camp, we are lucky that the shared space is all right out of our front door. We can look out our windows and see the kids playing. If we can’t directly, then we know that some other family can. The kids know this, too. If bullying goes on or someone trips and falls, the kids are quick to come and get a parent. Sometimes we can hear the cries and we come even quicker. The kids know that we could be looking out the window… and I think that encourages good behavior. Hard to say, though. I do think that makes them feel safer. Using the Camp as a design model, I would say that developers should position houses so that they can look out over the common space as much as possible. There will always be nooks and crannies that the kids will find and make their own.

Amenities
A camp experience means giving up some of your private space to make more shared space. It’s a trade-off. And judging by our kids smiles, one that we have been happy to make. For a family camp, there needs to be a good mix of amenities between adult oriented and kid friendly. Any camp, be it geared towards singles, retirees, or families would benefit from some common types of shared amenities. A community building for social gatherings is a must have. Most of the homes are smaller, so there probably is not enough space to have more than a few guests over. And when you have so many people close by, it is easy to become friends and enjoy their company together. A community building can be a place to hang out and have a coffee with a friend or a gathering spot for the whole neighborhood to have monthly potluck dinners. This community building could incorporate a few other nice amenities like we have at the Swedish Camp: an exercise facility and a guest room. These could be separate or integrated together. The guest suite is another tradeoff item. If most families are maxed out in their smaller homes, there is not enough space for visiting relatives and friends. At our camp, we have a signup sheet for the guest house. The rules governing the house can be agreed to formally to avoid conflicts. It seems to work for us. We also have a pool at the Swedish Camp. This is a must in Hanoi as the summers are quite hot. There is a fence around the pool and the kids seem to respect it. All of the kids have learned to swim and are probably better than most of their peers because they are all swimming quite a bit. In a camp situation, the normal expense of a pool would be divided by ten. And you do not have to make the pool larger than a normal pool. Rarely is every family enjoying the pool at the same time. You may want to make the lounging area around the pool a bit bigger though than a typical house pool area.

But what about the kids? What do they need? Surprisingly little. After living at this camp for a while and seeing how young kids play, here is my list for a 8-10 family camp.

2 separate play areas that have a jungle gym type climbing contraptions. We have two, one for smaller kids and one for bigger kids. This works out well.

We only have 2 swings, but I would say have more, maybe four. I’ve heard more whining about “it’s my turn” concerning the swing than anything else in the past 2 years. Sure this teaches patience (to parents and kids alike) but sometimes you just want another swing.

Sandbox area, always a winner with the young ones and cheap to build.

Climbing trees. OK, you can’t just pick one of these up at Wal-Mart, so think ahead. IF there are some good lower trees that the kids can play on, leave them and try to make them a feature. The area under a few of our tress here will NEVER have grass under them because the kids are constantly there climbing up and down. So maybe you could build a sandbox type area around those trees or plant small bushes around to screen off the bare dirt.

A hard surface area. If the kids are to stay out of the street, then they need a place to drive their big wheels, scooters, and remote control cars. Ours doubles as a small basketball court/badminton area. Make sure that there is a little slope to it so that it dries off quickly. Alternatively, a nice smooth sidewalk loop would be nice for scooting around on.

An upgrade kid amenity might be a “play barn” – a kid size shed that holds community toys, mini-kitchen, even art supplies. It would be big enough to play in on rainy days.

Public/Private Definition
People are made more comfortable by clearly defining the public and private spaces. There should be a transition from purely public gardens to private home spaces. This can be done quite easily through architectural conventions: entry gates, low garden fences, elevated porches, trellises, etc. This is one area that the Swedish Camp gets more wrong than right. There is only one entry into the camp. Residents usually arrive by foot, taxi, bike, or motorbike. No one here has a car, but we all cross over the parking lot to arrive at a first paved path from where most of the houses are accessed. This is great because we often pass each other and stop and chat at this point. The path to the house is nice too, but once you reach your house, boom, you’re there. There is hardly any transition from the public garden to the private house. As built, there was a hint at separation but over the years, this has been erased. There is no porch in the American sense, but there is a small outside seating area – usually about 5′ in depth. In front of that was an 18″ planting strip to define that area and add some boundary. Unfortunately the 5′ depth of the seating area is not deep enough to access a nicely arranged seating area, so many residents have chosen to pave over this area in order to make the seating area more usable. This breaks down the separation of public and private. So much so that it feels like you’re imposing if you walk by a family entertaining, or feel like you have to greet someone if their out enjoying a book. I admit that I am confused sometimes whether I should say hello or if I’d be interrupting an important part of the book. By properly defining the public and private, this uncertainty is alleviated. Interaction is not obligatory due to simple proximity. In other words, you can have your privacy, but be as inviting as you want.

Continue reading about Family Camps – Pros and Cons