Designed Around Connection
- Jul 14
- 2 min read
We recently came across an article discussing a trend some planners and developers are calling “The Great Unplug”—the idea that people are looking for more opportunities to spend time outdoors, know their neighbors, and be part of a community rather than simply live in one.
It caught our attention because many of the things highlighted in the article are the same ideas that helped shape Local70.
When we talk with people about a new community, the conversation usually starts with homes. What will they look like? What will they cost? Who’s building them?
Those are important questions. But we've always believed the spaces between the homes matter too.
In fact, those spaces were part of the conversation from the earliest stages of planning. As Local70 placemaker Jody Leidolf explained during a recent discussion about the community’s design:
“The framework for Local70 came about through our research and precedent studies of small towns and especially Smithfield’s historic district. What we wanted to establish was a logical street and block and alley alignment that gave good structure to the community and then opened up to unique open spaces. We really focused on the visual cues as you drive down the streets, terminating visual view sheds in open space.”
One of those view sheds is Bower Square, a planned gathering space designed to create a focal point within the community and provide a place where neighbors can naturally come together.
The same thinking influenced the more than four miles of planned sidewalks and trails throughout Local70.
A sidewalk may not seem like a major amenity on paper, but it changes how people experience a neighborhood. It creates opportunities for evening walks, bike rides with the kids, morning runs, dog walks, and the simple chance to wave at someone passing by. Those small interactions add up.
In many newer communities, residents can go from their garage to work to the grocery store and back home without ever really engaging with the neighborhood around them. Walkable streets, trails, parks, and gathering spaces create opportunities for something different.
That’s part of what we’re trying to build at Local70.
Not a community that asks people to give up technology or tells people how to spend their time.
Just a place that makes it a little easier to get outside, stay active, meet your neighbors, and enjoy being part of Smithfield.
Because long after floor plans and home features change, those are often the things people remember most about where they live.
