SUST 5304 Summer II - JRyan: Urban Reserve

urban reserve

Entry sign to the urban reserve development

Today we met with Diane Cheatham the developer of Urban Reserve. We were also able to tour her home and part of the Urban Reserve neighborhood.

The Urban Reserve website describes the development as, "the first community of its kind:
a neighborhood of modern, single-family homes, designed by a select group of regionally and nationally recognized architects. Our goal is to create a unique lifestyle founded on a synthesis of modern design, ready access to nature, a respect for the environment, and the good fortune of a rare and beautiful location just minutes from downtown Dallas."
The houses in the reserve sit upon infill from the White Rock Lake channel construction. The site originally had a lot of concrete fill as well. Rather than paying to have the waste concrete hauled to another site to become someone elses problem the developer used it in creating sculpture features and also as neighborhood steps and retaining walls. Their goal was to use the sites "as is" rather than disrupt the nature that had developed there.

Repurposed concrete slabs act as retaining walls and steps

Several of the neighborhood features were different from standard city codes and required working with the City of Dallas to maintain the vision of the development. One variance was the roadways into the neighborhood. They wanted a narrower 22' wide road which required roll-down curbs on one side of the street with the sidewalks constructed to roadway specifications to allow access by fire department vehicles if needed.

#1 Vanguard Way overlooking the duck pond

The neighborhood has two ponds which collect stormwater which is then used to water common areas and front yards. The Home Owners' Association (HOA) maintains the ponds. The uphill side of the street "wet side" also features rain gardens planted with horsetail reeds as well as pond and bald cypress trees. This acts as an area to capture and slow run-off and provides a bio-filter for rain water.

The neighborhood is four miles north of White Rock Lake and connects to the White Rock Creek Trail, a hike and bike trails that eventually will connect to over 35 miles of North Texas trails including the Trinity River trail system. It is also close to a DART light rail station. It is a very walkable neighborhood with engagin landscaping.

We toured #1 Vanguard Way, the first house you come to as you enter the reserve. The design of the house incorporates such resource conserving features as, proper orientation to the sun, on-demand water heaters, foam insulation, energy efficient windows, geothermal, high SEER 2-speed A/C system and an 18,000 gallon rainwater cistern. The Cheatham's keep chickens and maintain an indoor worm composting bin as well as outdoor composting as environmentally conscious ways to deal with food waster rather than sending it to the landfill.