Evaluating livability and perceived values of sustainable neighborhood design: New Urbanism and original urban suburbs

New Urbanism is a popular development tool that advocates for dense and accessible neighborhoods which are more conducive to generating walking and neighboring activities. This research analyzes the ability of residents and users of space to perceive the actual design components and theories in place that have actively created the community they inhabit and use. Two study sites are selected within the St. Louis region in the United States, a New Urbanist development and an original urban suburb, that both possess comparable demographic, physical, and aesthetic characteristics. The resulting similarity in the responses of each demonstrates that these design attributes are valued within the study sites regardless of how and when each was founded. In this case, the sustainable neighborhood design elements of the streetcar suburb are correspondingly perceived in the New Urbanist community, effectively translating them from the original method of building suburban cities into the modern era.