Ideal Neighborhood Character Blends Order, Uniqueness

 Neighborhood character is incredibly important to overall perception of neighborhood quality. We’re not going to define this important community development term because you’ll catch onto the concept through example, if you’re not already familiar with it. 

Why is perception of neighborhood quality important? It impacts both property values and your ability to attract the businesses and residents you want. 

In breaking neighborhood character into its component parts, we tried for a top 10 list. But actually we agree on 13 principles of neighborhood character, a baker’s dozen or lagniappe as they would say in Cajun country. We divided these components into two groups: architectural aspects of character, which obviously are difficult for a neighborhood or community to remedy once a “built-out” status has been reached, and another group of elements that can be improved with reasonable investments of money and effort.