Inspiration from the Gulf Coast to the Pacific Coast
SEASIDE®, the town that birthed the New Urbanism movement has inspired countless communities globally. While Seaside was inspired by many European and early American urban/traditional towns before sprawl was at its peak in America, its founders Robert and Daryl Davis along with master planners, Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, (DPZ CoDesign), and the many architects that followed, set out to create an ideal town that helped people feel more connected to their community and their environment again. Shortly after the founding of the town, the New Urbanism movement was born and shifted the thinking of town design.
One town with a similar story to Seaside, Florida is Seabrook, Washington. Both communities began in a rural coastal landscape with its founders eager to plan a place that would be steeped in legacy. Casey and Laura Roloff, the co-founders of Seabrook, sought advice from Robert and Daryl Davis, the co-founders of Seaside, along with the SEASIDE Institute™, and its fellows when they aimed to introduce new urbanism to the Washington Coast. As we reflect on the forty-fifth year of Seaside, we are reminded of the reach it has had beyond the 80-acre plot of land that the town resides on and how that reach has become part of the Seaside story. The town's influence on new urbanism continues to shape every subsequent community.
Seabrook was founded in 2004, the same year that the Gulf Coast’s new urbanism community of Alys Beach was founded. The intentional design concepts include a mixed-use, pedestrian friendly community with walkability, human connection, and ultimately creating a place where people are at the forefront in every decision. Twenty-two years later, Seabrook is successfully continuing to build a community that is focused on the residential experience, as well as the experience of the visitor. Seabrook is a beach town along the Washington Coast’s Olympic Peninsula that is seamlessly woven into nature, it sits on a scenic bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, offering incredible views, unmatched beach access, and bike trails. Because Seabrook is a hilltop town on the coast, it not only boasts a commanding view of the Pacific Ocean, it is within driving distance of an ever-expanding region of Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia, and is a three-hour drive from Portland.
Laurence Qamar, Architect and Town Planner for Seabrook shares, “You really need to walk Seabrook to become immersed to understand it. The “telescoping" street views deep in the neighborhoods out to the Pacific horizon; the network of hidden mid-block crushed oyster-shell paths and gardens; the gradual morphing of the rural-to-urban transect in landscape, building forms, and materials; the deflected and terminated views of building facades and corner turrets; the flow from intimate public places to expansive open spaces like the amphitheater facing the ocean; or forest bathing deep in the coniferous forest.” One of the early lessons was incorporating inspiration from both Seaside and Rosemary Beach’s “Krier Walks,” an ode to Léon Krier and to the towns impacted by Krier. Krier Walks, often referred to as Krier Paths, are a network of narrow, pedestrian-only sand and gravel pathways running between the cottages of Seaside. Comparable walks and pedestrian streets are found in Seabrook, as is an urban plaza, Meriweather Square, that pays homage to Seaside’s Tupelo Street Pavilion. From the Square, two contrasting pedestrian ways emerge. The Woodland Promenade preserves a quintessential palette of Pacific Northwest trees, shrubs, and understory plants and connects to Westhill Park. Alternately, directly east of the square, The Garden Promenade, a linear rain garden and native plant display, disguises utilities while creating an amenity for the neighborhood’s dooryard cottages. While the technique of new urbanism is no longer a new concept, Seaside’s town plan helped prove the possibilities for creating meaningful places that balanced shared views while enhancing value on the human experience.
Seabrook was just named the Grand Prize winner for the Congress for the New Urbanism’s CNU Charter Award. The ceremony will took place at this year’s CNU34 Congress in Northwest Arkansas. Seaside was awarded the CNU Charter Award in 1992, and we understand what an honor it is to receive this recognition.
In Dhiru Thadani’s book Reflections on Seaside (pages 471-495) Stephen Poulakos, Vice President of Town Planning and Design at Seabrook Land Company and is an Auburn University Alumni reflects upon the impact that Seaside has had on his career and how that impacted his work over the years. He says, “My connection to Seaside began in the mid-1980's in Old Seagrove, where I first discovered the principles of New Urbanism and met some of the earliest luminaries connected to Seaside's real estate and design. After studying landscape architecture under Stephanie Bothwell, CNU Fellow, and working for six years with the late Richard Gibbs (2019 SEASIDE Prize™ recipient) -- the former Town Architect for both Seaside and Rosemary Beach -- I carried those lessons across the country. In 2004, I joined Casey & Laura Roloff, founders of Seabrook, WA, and their principal town planner Laurence Qamar to help design and build Seabrook, WA. Today, as we watch Seabrook grow to nearly 700 acres, we still look to Seaside and the 30A collection of beach towns as our blueprint for success. Without Seaside's influence and the continued guidance of the Davis family and others connected to the movement, Seabrook would not exist, this is why we treasure our recent CNU Grand Prize Charter Award."
People, town developers, and community leaders often journey great distances to observe and experience towns that embrace new urbanism—valued for their charm, connectivity, and walkability—yet when they return home, they design communities that contrast sharply with these principles. As Casey Roloff stated recently, “the demand for walkable places is top of mind for buyers, and that demand is greater than the supply. When we use these principles in a more widespread way, we create places both appealing and accessible to typical buyers in all economic levels".
Casey Roloff, founder of Seabrook, is a member of the Seaside Institute Board of Governors and is a legacy supporter of our ongoing initiatives at the Seaside Institute. He serves with our think-tank and fellow board members to address the missing middle housing crisis, along with many other studies in sustainable town planning and believes that through new urbanism and zoning reform we can achieve a solution, as housing attainability is an issue impacting both national and international communities. Erik Kronberg of Kronberg and Associates is another board member from the Atlanta area that is directly impacting the housing market in Atlanta and beyond to include more missing middle and workforce housing through zoning reform. Our board chairman, Rob Parker, known for his work at the Town at Trilith is focused on what it means for individuals and communities to flourish. During his opening remarks at our annual SEASIDE Prize™ in February, he shared, "we do not only need to continue to focus on building places people love, but we need to be building places that love people.” It is this spirit that makes Seaside, and many of the new towns that follow… Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach, Seabrook, Poundbury, Serenbe, Habersham, South Main, Kentlands, Celebration, Westhaven, Windsor, I’On, Trilith, and many other communities so uniquely special. It is also a reminder of the importance of the work by organizations, such as the Seaside Institute, CNU, The King’s Foundation, and others that are fostering the core principles of the movement.
“It’s an honor to be on the board of the Seaside Institute and give back to the place that inspired us to build our own town (Seabrook) nearly 25 years ago. We owe so much to Seaside and the Davis Family. Now we hope to inspire town builders of the future here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest!”
– Casey Roloff, SEA-EO of SEABROOK®
As the Seaside Institutes continues to work with fellow organizations and communities on the message, education, and movement of New Urbanism, we remain focused on both local and global sustainable solutions that equate to a more fulfilled and flourishing outcome with a focus on community connection. If you would like to become more involved with the Seaside Institute, please connect with us at the seasideinstiute.org.