Carothers Crossing Starts to Become an Actual Community
ANGELA PATTERSON; tennessean.com
2/6/2008
Website: http://www.tennessean.com

Just a few months ago, Carothers Crossing was no more than a vision and a set of blueprints.

But this winter, the 700 acres that once housed Carothers Dairy Farm is seeing new life. A few homes are completed in phases one and two, with the first closings scheduled in April.

Carothers Crossing, near Cane Ridge Park in Davidson County, is a traditional neighborhood development — a planning system that places a variety of homes and designated commercial and civic space within a network of streets, sidewalks and trails. The project follows New Urbanist principles, which includes working with, not against, the land's natural topography to create a scenic and walkable development.

"At this point we're moving from a visionary, conceptual phase to the actual creation of it," marketing director Sheri Hamilton said. "We now have homes available, about 20-25, starting at $180,000. The first closing is set for April, so it will become a real-life community soon."

Hamilton said now an added focus will rest on how to best serve the residents.

"We'll start to offer street events, picnics in late spring," Hamilton said. "We're thinking about asking residents to volunteer as field guides on weekends, so people can learn about the neighborhood firsthand.

"As it builds out, we'll let residents help determine how the common spaces in the development are used, whether they want a dog park or a playground or some other use."

Small-town design modeled on Franklin

Four years ago, when developer Don Smithson began to plan this project, he knew he wanted to model the pre-WWII, small-town look of the development after his hometown of Franklin; he feels the design will foster community.

"I traveled from the East Coast to the West Coast looking at these type of communities, and I compared the successful ones to see if there was a common thread," Smithson said. "And after a year of study, the thread was having the closest thing to a mix of demographics and housing that you can get, because somewhere along there community is developed.

"We all want community, regardless of our age or where we come from."

Smithson even chose the order in which the multi-phase development would be built with the hopes it would help create a tight-knit neighborhood.

"We chose to build out (this section) first because it had a mix of everything we're trying to do." Smithson said of phase two, which includes live-work spaces, townhomes, commercial space, a condo building called a mansion-villa and single-family homes of different sizes.

He also said he's hoping to provide some commercial establishments with a regional draw.

"We're looking at something along the lines of Puckett's in Franklin. We're also looking at a beauty/barber shop, a dry cleaner's. Our company's own offices will be there. I'd love to start three or four of the commercial units this summer."

Homes for different stages of life

Smithson thinks that by offering different types of housing at different price points, people would be more likely to stay in the neighborhood.

"The larger idea is that you can move around in this community," Smithson said. "You may start in a bungalow, then when you get married or have children, you move to a bigger home in the development. You could also start out in one of the larger homes, then when the kids go to college or you retire, you can downsize, but still stay in the development."

But Smithson is most excited about the community dynamic that could manifest from having different types of people from different backgrounds living in a close neighborhood.

"We're hoping that the mix of people will provide opportunities that wouldn't have existed otherwise, perhaps some resulting in long-lasting friendships."