A front porch gives you a place to enjoy your morning coffee. A sidewalk gives you a reason to take the long way home. A neighborhood restaurant becomes the place where you start recognizing familiar faces.
Each may seem like a small detail. Together, they help shape how a neighborhood feels and how people experience it.
At Evans Farm in Lewis Center, Ohio, those connections are part of the thinking behind the community. The approach is called New Urbanism, and its purpose is simple: bring homes, businesses, and shared spaces together in ways that make everyday life more connected.
What Is New Urbanism?
New Urbanism is an approach to neighborhood design that brings homes, shops, restaurants, and public spaces closer together through walkable streets and connected sidewalks.
It draws on the way towns and neighborhoods developed for generations, with homes near local businesses and public places where people could gather. It brings those familiar ideas into modern community planning.
The movement gained a formal organization with the first Congress for the New Urbanism in 1993. Its guiding charter followed in 1996, outlining principles for communities that combine different uses, welcome pedestrians, and reflect local character.
For residents, the meaning is much more practical: more opportunities to step outside, discover a local business, and feel part of the place they call home.
The Thinking Behind Evans Farm
That philosophy helped shape Evans Farm from its early planning.
In a 2019 interview with Columbus Underground, co-developer Tony Eyerman described drawing inspiration from places including Grandview, Old Worthington, and Mariemont near Cincinnati. Eyerman and fellow developer Dan Griffin envisioned bringing the qualities of established, walkable neighborhoods into a new community in Delaware County.
By May 2019, the first residents had moved in, and approximately 50 single-family homes were under construction. The vision already included a town center and a mix of housing, connecting places to live with places to visit.
Today, that thinking helps explain the relationship between Evans Farm’s homes, storefronts, sidewalks, and gathering spaces.
Why Front Porches Matter
A front porch creates a comfortable place between the privacy of home and the activity of the street.
Imagine sitting outside after dinner, waving to someone walking their dog, or catching up with a neighbor passing by. A porch makes room for those small, unplanned interactions.
New Urbanism recognizes porches, sidewalks, cafés, and public spaces as settings for everyday connection. The design creates opportunities for conversation to happen naturally.
Sidewalks Connect More Than Addresses
A walk becomes more inviting when there is somewhere to go.
Connecting homes with businesses, parks, and shared spaces gives a neighborhood walk a purpose beyond exercise. It might become a stop for dinner, a visit with a friend, or a few minutes outdoors between working at home and settling in for the evening.
EDGE, the planning and landscape architecture firm involved in Evans Farm, describes a community framework that links streets, parks, and civic spaces. Its streetscape work focuses on making public spaces comfortable at the scale of a person walking through them.
For someone exploring the neighborhood, those planning decisions become something simple: a route worth taking and places worth stopping along the way.
Homes and Businesses Belong Together
Having businesses within the neighborhood adds another layer to daily life.
At Evans Farm, shops, dining, and services are part of the community, alongside custom homes, townhomes, and apartments. Living accommodations above businesses also bring homes and commercial spaces together within the same buildings.
The everyday possibility is appealing: a familiar face behind the counter, a nearby place to meet friends, or a favorite stop that becomes part of your weekly routine.
Those businesses help give the neighborhood its personality, while the people who visit and support them become part of its story.
Experience the Design for Yourself
Neighborhood planning can sound technical until you experience it on foot.
On your next visit to Evans Farm, take time to notice the porches, follow the sidewalks, and explore the local businesses. Picture the small routines that could become part of your day.
That is where the thinking behind New Urbanism becomes something personal: a neighborhood you can participate in, one ordinary day at a time.
Explore Evans Farm and discover your place in the Neighborhood of a Lifetime.