Radburn, New Jersey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A diagram showing the street network structure of Radburn and its nested hierarchy. Separate
pedestrian paths run through the green spaces between the culs-de-sac and through the central
green spine (Note: the shaded area was not built)

Radburn
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark District
New Jersey Register of Historic Places

A Radburn cul-de-sac

Location

Fair Lawn, New Jersey

Built

1928

Architect

Clarence Stein, Henry

Wright

Architectural style

Colonial Revival, Tudor

Revival

Governing body

Private

NRHP Reference #

75001118[1]

NJRHP #

482
Significant dates

Added to NRHP

April 16, 1975

Designated NHLD

April 5, 2005[2]

Designated NJRHP October 15, 1974

Radburn is an unincorporated planned community located within Fair Lawn,

in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.
Radburn was founded in 1929 as "a town for the motor age". [3] Its planners, Clarence
Stein and Henry Wright, and its landscape architect Marjorie Sewell Cautley[4] aimed
to incorporate modern planning principles, which were then being introduced into
England'sGarden Cities, following ideas advocated by urban planners Ebenezer
Howard, Sir Patrick Geddes[5] and Clarence Perry. PerrysNeighbourhood
unit concept was well-formulated by the time Radburn was planned, being informed
by Forest Hills Gardens, Queens, New York (1909-1914), a garden-city development
of the Russell Sage Foundation.
Radburn was explicitly designed to separate traffic by mode, [5] with a pedestrian path
system that does not cross any major roads at grade. Radburn introduced the

largely residential "superblock" and is credited with incorporating some of the

earliest culs-de-sac in the United States.[6]
Contents
[hide]

1 Statistics

2 A community within a community

3 Governance

4 Facilities

5 Radburn as a model

6 See also

7 References

8 External links

Statistics[edit]
There are approximately 3,100 people in 670 families residing in Radburn. [5] They
live in 469 single-family homes, 48 townhouses, 30two-family houses and a 93unit apartment complex.[5]
Radburn's 149 acres (0.60 km2) include 23 acres (93,000 m2) of interior parks, four
tennis courts, three hardball fields, two softball fields, two swimming pools and
an archery plaza. Young children and their parents can make use of two toddler
playgroup areas, two playgrounds and a toddler bathing pool. [5]
There is also a community center which houses administrative offices, library,
gymnasium, clubroom, pre-school and maintenance shops.
For census purposes, Radburn is mostly a subset of Census Tract 171 in Bergen
County, New Jersey.[7]

A community within a community[edit]

The Radburn Community enjoys much autonomy within the Borough of Fair Lawn.
Pursuant to enabling laws passed in the 1920s andcovenants included in the
original deeds for the development, the Radburn Association is a private association
which is empowered to administer Radburn's common properties and to collect from
the owners of properties quarterly association fees to cover the Association's
maintenance and operation of communal facilities. The Association is also
empowered to restrict development and decoration of Radburn properties in order to
maintain a consistent "look" to the community. Use of Radburn Association facilities
is limited to residents (though the parks themselves are ungated and the walkways
are public property of the Borough.) Radburn's border with the rest of Fair Lawn is
the Bergen County Line to the West; Southeast of Fernwood Dr., Fulton Pl., and
Franciscan Way but Northwest of Owen Avenue to the Northwest; Radburn Rd. to
the Northeast; one block of Howard Avenue to the Southeast; Alden Terrace to the
Northeast and East; one block of High St. to the South; Craig Rd. and its extension
through Scribner Rd. to the East; and Berdan Avenue to the South. Radburn's other
full-length East-West cross street is Fair Lawn Avenue, and its sole North-South
cross street is Plaza Rd.

Governance[edit]
Radburn residents vote for a board of trustees to govern the Association. Nominees
to six of the nine board seats are chosen by the sitting trustees. Two other seats are
appointed by former trustees and not subject to the residents' vote. The ninth seat is
filled by the President of the Radburn Citizens' Association ex-officio.
In November, 2006 a group of Radburn residents opposed to the current system of
governance filed a lawsuit against the Radburn Association. The plaintiffs claim that
Radburn's governance violates New Jersey state law and the New Jersey State
Constitution. The residents are represented by two public interest legal
organizations: the New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center and The
Community Law Clinic of The Rutgers School of LawNewark.
On April 1, 2008, the New Jersey Superior Court awarded summary judgements for
both sides in the democracy lawsuit. Judge Contillo found that Radburn's
governance was legal as well as its membership. The Court ordered the Association

to comply with the law by providing full financial disclosure to residents and
amending its bylaws to support open trustee meetings four times each year.
Respected New Jersey Constitutional expert Frank Askin of the Rutgers University
School of Law at Newark, and his Clinic on Constitutional Law, have now joined the
plaintiffs' pro bono legal team for the appeals process, intending to affirm through
the courts that the PREDFDA statute guarantees free elections in planned
community government
On June 17, 2010, the Moore V Radburn litigation was finally put to rest by the NJ
Supreme Court. The petition for certification filed by the 16 litigants was denied.

Facilities[edit]

The Radburn Plaza Building.

The Radburn School, an elementary school located on the edge of the "B" park, is
operated by the Fair Lawn Public Schools. While many of its students are Radburn
residents, it serves a larger district. The school, built in 1929, was designed by the
architecture firm of Guilbert & Betelle. The building was expanded in 1955 and again
in 2005.
Several prominent Fair Lawn businesses exist in Radburn's business district, which
is at the intersection of Fair Lawn Avenue and Plaza Road, two important arteries in
Fair Lawn. Many of these businesses are within the Radburn Plaza (clock tower)
building, a signature landmark of Radburn and Fair Lawn itself. (The building
suffered a severe fire several years ago and was recently restored in its prior

image.) Nearby stands the Old Dutch House, a tavern built during the time of Dutch
colonization of the Americas.
Facing the Plaza Building is the Radburn railroad station, built by the Radburn
developers along the Erie Railroad line (laterConrail) and listed on the National
Register of Historic Places. Passenger service operates there today on the New
Jersey Transit Bergen County Line.

Radburn as a model[edit]
The same design choices seen as impediments to a lifestyle centered around the
automobile led to perceptions that Radburn can serve as precedent both for New
Pedestrianism and for the car-free movement.
The impact of Radburn's urban form on energy consumption for short local trips was
considered in a 1970 study by John Lansing of the University of Michigan.[8] The
study found Radburn's design to have important implications for energy
conservation, recording that 47% of its residents shopped for groceries on foot,
while comparable figures were 23% forReston, Virginia (another Radburn-type
development, but more car oriented) and only 8% for a nearby unplanned
community. Other findings, such as low figures for weekend trips and low average
numbers of miles traveled by car per resident, bore out this claim. (See reference,
below.)
Walt Disney was influenced by Radburn and the works of Ebenezer Howard in his
planning for Disneyland, Walt Disney World and more specifically his original vision
of theExperimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (concept) (EPCOT). Disney
incorporated the pedestrian pathway concept into his own future city planning:
"Children going to and from schools and playgrounds will use these paths, always
completely safe and separated from the automobile." Other Radburn innovations
Disney would look to incorporate into his plans for EPCOT were cul-de-sacs,
collector streets and common open spaces within superblocks. [9]
In Canada, the Radburn concept was used in Winnipeg, Manitoba in the late 1940s
and early 1950s in three communities: Wildwood Park in Fort Garry, consisting of
ten bays (loop streets), Norwood Flats in St. Boniface, consisting of four bays, and

Gaboury Place, a single bay in St. Boniface totalling several hundred single-family
houses, all facing sidewalks and green spaces and backing onto short bays. Today,
they are considered to be desirable middle to upper-middle class Winnipeg
neighbourhoods to reside in. Clarence Stein incorporated Radburn design principles
into the plan of Alcan company town Kitimat, British Columbia in the 1950s. The
developers of Varsity Village and Braeside, subdivisions inCalgary, Alberta used the
Radburn model in the late 1960s.
In Australia, the Radburn model was used in the planning of some Canberra,
Australia suburbs developed in the 1960s, in
particular Charnwood, Curtin and Garran. It was also used in the Melbourne suburb
of Doncaster East in an area known as the Milgate Park Estate.In New South Wales
the then Housing Commission used the Radburn concept in numerous new estates
built in the mid to late 1960s and early 1970s. Many of the medium density dwellings
are being 'turned around' by lowering the road side 'rear' fence and fencing off the
'front yards that share a communal space. The lane ways have long been a problem
giving local youth a place to hide and evade motorized police patrols while launching
raids into homes virtually unobserved.[dubious discuss][citation needed] One benefit of this plan not
often mentioned is that it allows for narrower streets in the cul-de-sacs that serve the
backs of the houses. This means lower costs as less bitumen, piping and cabling is
needed to service the homes. In major Radburn areas such as Mt Druitt in Sydney
the current Housing NSW are selling off many of their properties as they pass their
economical maintenance life and begin to cost more than they are worth. Other
properties, particularly the blocks of flats often housing the less affluent and
educated are being demolished and new medium density developments built in their
place. These are being given to the aged and (specifically migrant) families rather
than the former residents, many of whom were on parole or being reintroduced to
the general community after treatment for various psychiatric disorders. [citation needed]
[dubious discuss]

Planning for new towns built for the iron ore industry in the late 1960s was also
heavily influenced by Radburn. They included South Hedland, Dampier, Shay Gap
(now demolished) and Karratha. [10]

In the United Kingdom, Grove Hill, one of the seven planned neighbourhoods in the
Hertfordshire new town of Hemel Hempstead, was also partially designed using the
Radburn model. A part of Yate in South Gloucestershire in England was developed
using the Radburn model. Elsewhere in England the model was employed in an
extension to Letchworth Garden City. In The Meadows, Nottingham the model has
been less successful: Nottingham City Council has stated that "the problems
associated with the layout of the New Meadows Radburn style layout... contribute to
the anti-social behaviour and crime in the area."[1]
Many other towns in the UK contain areas or estates of Radburn-style housing; often
on council estates and seen as a less-than-desirable place to live.
The Radburn model also inspired the American Radburn design for public housing.

See also[edit]

National Register of Historic Places listings in Bergen County, New Jersey

References[edit]
1.

Jump up^ "National Register Information System". National Register of

Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23.

2.

Jump up^ "Radburn". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National

Park Service. 2008-06-23.

3.
4.
5.

Jump up^ History from the Radburn Association website

Jump up^ Marjorie L. Sewell Cautley, Landscape Architect to the Garden
City Movement By: Thaisa Way, accessed June 7, 2006
^ Jump up to:a b c d e Introduction from the Radburn Association website

6.

Jump up^ Cul-de-Sacs: Suburban Dream or Dead End?, a June

2006 National Public Radio story

7.

Jump up^ Census 2000 Profile for Census Tract 171 in Bergen County, New
Jersey

8.

Jump up^ John B. Lansing, Robert W. Marans and Robert B.

Zehner, Planned Residential Environments (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan,
1970), p. 213

9.

Jump up^ Sam Gennawey, Walt and the Promise of Progress City (Ayefour
Publishing, 2011), pp. 230-231

10.

Jump up^ http://www.porthedlandnow.com.au/history

RADBURN
THE TOWN FOR THE MOTOR AGE
The industrialization of the United States after World War I led to migration from the
rural areas and a dramatic growth of the cities during the 1920's. This population shift led
to a severe housing shortage. The automobile, which was becoming a mainstay in American
life, added a new problem to urban living. Drastic changes in urban design were necessary
to provide more housing and to protect people from the horseless carriage. In answer to the
needs of "modern society", Radburn, the "Town for the Motor Age" was created in 1929.
How Radburn was going to meet the problems of "modern society" is best illustrated in
architect Henry Wright's "Six Planks for a Housing Platform". These ideas formed the
basic philosophy that he followed in designing Radburn. His planks were:
Plan simply, but comprehensively. Don't stop at the individual property line. Adjust
paving, sidewalks, sewers and the like to the particular needs of the property dealt
with - not to a conventional pattern. Arrange buildings and grounds so as to give
sunlight, air and a tolerable outlook to even the smallest and cheapest house.
Provide ample sites in the right places for community use: i.e., playgrounds, school
gardens, schools, theatres, churches, public buildings and stores.
Put factories and other industrial buildings where they can be used without wasteful
transportation of goods or people.
Cars must be parked and stored, deliveries made, waste collected - plan for such
services with a minimum of danger, noise and confusion.
Bring private and public land into relationship and plan buildings and groups of
buildings with relation to each other. Develop collectively such services as will add to
the comfort of the individual, at lower cost than is possible under individual
operation.

Arrange for the occupancy of houses on a fair basis of cost and service, including the
cost of what needs to be done in organizing, building and maintaining the
community.
The main thrust in the planning of Radburn can be summarized by the quote from
architect Clarence Stein, who said, " We did our best to follow Aristotle's recommendation
that a city should be built to give its inhabitants security and happiness".
The primary innovation of Radburn was the separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
This was accomplished by doing away with the traditional grid-iron street pattern and
replacing it with an innovation called the superblock. The superblock is a large block of
land surrounded by main roads. The houses are grouped around small cul-de-sacs, each of
which has an access road coming from the main roads. The remaining land inside the
superblock is park area, the backbone of the neighborhood. The living and sleeping
sections of the houses face toward the garden and park areas, while the service rooms face
the access road.
The walks that surround the cul-de-sacs on the garden side of the houses divide the cu-desacs from each other and from the central park area. These paths cross the park when
necessary. Finally, to further maintain the separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, a
pedestrian underpass and an overpass, linking the superblocks, were provided. The system
was so devised that a pedestrian could start at any given point and proceed on foot to
school, stores or church without crossing a street used by automobiles.
Another innovation of Radburn was that the parks were secured without additional cost to
the residents. The savings in expenditures for roads and public utilities at Radburn, as
contrasted with the normal subdivision, paid for the parks. The Radburn type of plan
requires less area of street to secure the same amount of frontage. In addition, for direct
access to most houses, it used narrower roads of less expensive construction, as well as
smaller utility lines. In fact, the area in streets and length of utilities is 25% less than in the
typical American street. The savings in cost not only paid for 12 - 14% of the total area that
went into internal parks, but also covered the cost of grading and landscaping the play
spaces and green links connecting the central block commons.
The genius of the Radburn Plan is shown in the use of the small property lots and cul-desac construction to finance part of the land, as well as the grading and the landscaping
which is the most costly part of park building. The cost of living in such a community was
therefore set at a minimum for the homeowner, and the cost to the builder was small
enough to make the venture profitable.
Radburn had been conceived by Stein and Wright to house 25,000 people. The boundaries
of this community were to be the Saddle River on the east (Radburn means Saddle River in
Old English) , the Erie Railroad on the west, the Glen Rock border on the north, and
Saddle Brook Township on the south. The Old Mill, now part of the Bergen County Park
System, was to be the entrance of this new city. The Depression pushed the builder, City
Housing Corporation, into bankruptcy. For this reason, Radburn could not expand beyond

its present size of 149 acres which includes 430 single family homes, 90 row houses, 54 semiattached houses and a 93 apartment unit, as well as a shopping center, parks and amenities.
Although the physical plan of Radburn has been an inspiration to planners and architects
here in the United States and abroad for almost 60 years, equally important in the
development of Radburn is The Radburn Association. The Association is a non-profit
corporation charged with fixing, collecting and disbursing charges; maintaining services,
parks and facilities; and interpreting and applying the Declaration of Restrictions, which
are restrictive covenants running with the land. Each property within the Association
boundaries is governed by these Restrictions.
The Association manages a park network of 23 acres, two swimming pools, four tennis
courts, four baseball fields, three playground areas, five outdoor basketball courts, an
archery plaza, two summer houses, and a community center called the Grange, which
includes offices, a library, clubroom, kitchen, maintenance shop and garage, a recreation
room and a gymnasium equipped with a stage. On this stage, the Radburn Players, the
oldest active amateur theatre group in the state, produce several shows each year. The
physical properties allow the Association to provide a comprehensive recreation program
for its residents all year long. The affairs of the Association are handled much like the
council-manager form of government. The nine member Board of Trustees sets policies and
approves the budget, while the administration lies in the hands of a full time paid manager.
Every resident is automatically a member of the Citizens' Association, whose President sits
as a full member of the Board of Trustees during his term of office. This group gives the
citizens a forum for voicing opinions and addressing concerns directly to the Board of
Trustees through its President.
In the field of planning and architecture, Radburn has been called by Anthony Bailey, "the
most significant notion in 20th Century urban development". Lewis Mumford considered it
"the first major advance in city planning since Venice". Radburn is unique because it was
envisioned as a town for better living, and it was the first example of city planning which
recognized the importance of the automobile in modern life without permitting it to
dominate the environment. It was the first time in th United States that a housing
development was attempted on such a large scale, proceeding from a definite architectural
plan resulting in a complete town. Radburn is also important to builders because of the
unique way that the parks and grading were funded.
From a sociological point of view, Radburn not only exemplifies an ideally planned place to
live, but it establishes a real mode or plan of living. The planned use of the land and the
establishment of the Association creates a lifestyle that is unheard of in most of modern
society. It is a lifestyle of community concern, action and participation. James Dahir saw in
Radburn a new hope for a humanistic society through planning which took into account
the social, as well as the physical needs of the residents.
He writes that Radburn is:

"social planning of an advanced order. It is manipulation of physical elements to induce

and encourage a social and human goal. It is a kind of planning which recognizes that the
growing edge of civilization is in the human and not the mechanical direction, though the
mechanical factors must be carefully aligned and allocated to support and advance the
communal achievements and the social inventions of a free people of autonomous family
life."
As the country struggled out of the Depression, the influence of the Radburn Idea was first
reflected in the various Greenbelt communities of the Resettlement Administration and
later, in Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles and Kitimat. B. C. The Idea then showed up in England
and later in Sweden at Vallingly, the huge Stockholm suburb; at the Baronbackavna Estate,
Orebro and at the Beskopsgaden Estate, Goteborg. It was in post world War II England
that Radburn achieved generic status. The "Radburn Plan", the "Radburn Idea", the
"Radburn Layout" appeared first at Coventry and later at Stevenage, Bracknell and
Cumbernauld. It has since spread to Chandigarh, India; to Brazil; to several towns in
Russia and to a section of Osaka, Japan. The Japanese community is almost an exact
duplicate of Radburn. The "Idea" finally returned to the United States at Reston, Virginia
and Columbia, Maryland. Several towns since have been modeled after the "Radburn
Plan". Brazilia and the capital of New Zealand are current projects which are consciously
implementing Radburn-based concepts.
The importance of Radburn is clearly seen in its influence on the planning of many towns
throughout the world. Its sociological impact through its planning has made the style of life
noteworthy and right for modern living. Hundreds come each year from all around the
world to see and study the Radburn Idea. New towns are being built each year modeled
after the Radburn Idea, using both its planning ideas and covenants in designing their
urban development. Radburn, planned as a "Town for the Motor Age" is truly a "Town for
Tomorrow"
Ronald F. Gatti, Manager, 1969 - 1989
THE RADBURN ASSOCIATION