There is an article in the Post today about development in Lovettsville, a sleepy hamlet northwest of Leesburg. Apparently as sprawl approached the town, planners drew up plans for a traditional walkable town center to anchor new development. Then the recession hit, and the grand plans came crashing down. Planned mixed-use has been un-planned, rules requiring alleyways have been rewritten, and plots for big expensive mcmansions have been replaced by diminutive starter homes. The shift to more affordable housing is a positive one, but the rest sounds unfortunate, and highlights the difficulties developers often face when trying to build walkable communities. When the going gets tough, defaulting back to normal sprawl is easier and cheaper. It shouldn’t be, but it is. Institutional supports for sprawl guarantee it.

One of these days I’m going to have to visit Lovettsville, as well as its exurban fringe TND cousin in Montgomery County, Clarksburg.