In addition to Summerset at Frick Park being a great neighborhood to live in, it is also a model of New Urbanism, a return to closer, more walkable neighborhoods that feature mixed use buildings, diversity in home options and more green space. Creating well-designed, people-friendly environments are some of New Urbanism’s underlying concepts.

The book, The Smart Growth Manual, by Andres Duany, Jeff Speck and Mike Lydon, details smarter ways for communities to live and grow, in order to promote economic vitality and sustainability.  The Amazon book review has this to say about The Smart Growth Manual: 

“Everyone is calling for smart growth…but what exactly is it? In The Smart Growth Manual, two leading city planners provide a thorough answer. From the expanse of the metropolis to the detail of the window box, they address the pressing challenges of urban development with easy-to-follow advice and broad array of best practices.

With their landmark book Suburban Nation, Andres Duany and Jeff Speck “set forth more clearly than anyone has done in our time the elements of good town planning” (The New Yorker). With this long-awaited companion volume, the authors have organized the latest contributions of new urbanism, green design, and healthy communities into a comprehensive handbook, fully illustrated with the built work of the nation’s leading practitioners.”

In this book, they put forth suggestions for intelligent, effective, urban growth and renewal. This is a timely book as many cities today are working towards revitalization.  Careful planning, with a focus on the principles of New Urbanism, will help them to succeed in this mission.

Open your mind to decorating that is decidedly “outside-the-box.”  Eight designers from the region were chosen for the challenge of creating an interior space that brings the outside in and highlights the use of sustainable materials.

These designers collaborated with the Phipps staff to create vibrant rooms featuring the spectacular flowers of the Summer Flower Show. The Welcome Center’s sculpture of a Native American medicine wheel illustrates the connection between man and nature, a theme that runs through this summer’s Flower Show exhibit.  This year’s show weaves natural elements with environmentally-friendly man-made materials in a way that inspires visitors to incorporate sustainable and recycled products into their living spaces and lifestyles.

The Palm room features a conversation area with furniture  and wall hangings made from old street signs. The bamboo exhibit in the Sunken Garden reminds visitors that bamboo can be used for flooring, furniture and fabric. Bamboo is a fast growing grass that regenerates quickly when cut. The South Conservatory is the backdrop for a lavish feast of greenery that awaits guests dressed in their foliage finery.  Old barn wood is reincarnated as welcoming arbors in The Serpentine Room and The Fern Room is whimsically decorated with repurposed cans and plastic bottles. The East Room displays huge flowers made from environmentally friendly Linoleum flooring and Xorel fabric.  An aluminum fainting couch, with a glass tile pillow, in the Victoria Room, illustrates the potential for these two materials to be recycled numerous times.

Come see these fresh takes on decorating that blend sustainability with style. Summer is now in bloom at the Phipps Flower Show now until September 27, 2011 (Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday-Thursday, and until 9 p.m. on Fridays). The Phipps’ Flower Show