Building a Better Neighborhood: LEED-ND and the Future Community

Park Forest, one of Chicago’s southern suburbs, had a curious beginning. Established in 1949, the village wasn’t served by a commuter rail line, the kernel around which most other suburbs accrued. It was in fact the first post-war, planned community built around an automobile-oriented shopping mall. Ten years later, around 29,000 residents lived in ranch style homes on large lots, enjoying the independence that their cars gave them. This new vision of suburbia would change the development landscape in America for generations
to come.
Read More…