This article is very much like most cynical derivative articles about Celebration, written by people who have never developed a life or friendship here. It would be pointless to dwell on the many factual errors, which recur with each of these drive-by accounts. But what you don't read about here is the life within those buildings, which look to the casual observer like empty facades. Real people live and work here. People who raise money for cancer, heart disease, the homeless, special needs, battered women, the environment, victims of natural disasters. People who go overseas on medical missions, or over to Mexico to help build a church school for children in a slum who have no other preschool or after school options. Dentists who give free services to uninsured working people who have no other options. Doctors who make house calls and know us by name. I know several adults who are working on their masters, or doctorate, or their law degree, or their business degree, all while working or taking care of kids. There are business owners, writers, architects, artists, sports professionals, airline pilots, stewardesses, stuntspeople, major motion picture directors, teachers, planners, ministers, therapists, stock brokers... real people with real families and real lives. This article give a superficial, artificial view of a deep, real home town. The people who have transplanted themselves here have chosen to do so; those who have decided to stay have established deep roots.

And so, we sigh when we read these drive-by accounts.

Bravo. I'm sure Celebration is "hometown" to many kids who were born and are being raised there, too. A lot of people transplant to university towns, but there is a lot less critcism of them, isn't there?

That sounds rather awesome. I'm a medical student now and that is the type of medicine I like- house calls and knowing your patients. Despite the cynical reviews, I have a feeling a lot of people want to live there. Is it hard to get in? I might seriously consider it when I get out of school...

The first post is true of every neighborhood. Even suburbs.

It's just a question of whether or not you ever get to know your neighbors.

That's why TND (Traditional Neighborhood Development) is so awesome. It brings people together. Celebration succeeds in spite of itself - because for as cloying as the architecture is, the town's got good bones. Check the site plan (Google Maps: "Celebration, FL") and you'll see a top-notch arrangement of streets and paths linking the disparate uses of the site together. That's what makes it all work.

It sounds like TND doesn't so much bring people together as force them to live practically on top of each other. The reason that the suburbs were popular in the first place is that it allowed people to live at enough of a distance that they didn't have to be unwilling witnesses to their neighbors changing their minds (not to mention using their toilets).

I know people who've lived in New Urbanism suburbs. They moved out. Said neighborhoods didn't inspire friendships; they made it so that you couldn't escape those annoying strangers next door . . .

I'm sure I can count on zero gloved mouse hands the number of homeless people helped *within* Celebration's town limits.

Despite what is inferred, providing free dentistry to Orlando's less fortunate doesn't make your home town any more inclusive. Instead of letting things evolve naturally, Disney cherry picked the most appealing aspects and threw them together next to an unnatural lake for people who want to spend 50+ weeks a year in their own Mickey Mouse Club.

M-I-C... See you really soon, assuming you have a job that pays at least 3x minimum wage, you have an affinity for keeping your yard perfect, and share our tastes in window treatments.

K-E-Y.... Why? Because elitism is swell! And it keeps "those people" out of Our Town. We don't want them to ruin our celebration of ife without them.

M-O-U-S-E

So, is this different from any other subdivision of expensive homes? Guess what ... it isn't. Every heard of home owner's associations?

Where in the Constitution does it guarantee everything to be "inclusive," as you apparently want? Re: your supposition that Disney didn't let things "evolve naturally," how are things supposed to "evolve," according to your definition? Are we all supposed to live in one giant commune, with everybody having the same income, the same belongings, etc.? I think that's called communism (which, by the way, is the antithesis of human evolution, i.e. the survival of the fittest).

"Why? Because elitism is swell! And it keeps "those people" out of Our Town. We don't want them to ruin our celebration of ife without them."

Wrong. Hundreds of working people work here, shop at the same stores, visit the town during free events, and send their kids to the school here. No gates on Celebration. Don't believe me? Go visit the high school during the daytime. come here during 4th of July. You assume that poverty is kept at bay - it is not. When the hurricanes hit Poinciana, Celebration residents were right there, helping our neighbors. Why? Because they are our neighbors, their kids go to school with our kids, we depend on each other to keep the economy going.

So easy to be cynical, but much more satisfying to work hard, do the right thing when possible, and have a positive outlook.

Lotsa factors go into this.

One is build quality. If you put a house on 4-foot side setbacks you need something better than hardi-plank, gypsum, and one 2" layer of pink foam.

The other is privacy. In the suburbs people have big expansive backyards and frontyards with partial or no fencing. Developers and planners have tried to carry that over to New Urban development and it doesn't work. The denser an area is the more privacy you need, until eventually you're looking at fenced front yards.