A new kind of town is making its way onto the landscape. We wonder, will Toronto and environs soon be boasting similar examples of this xenophobic, 21st century phenomenon?

The founder of the ubiquitous Domino's Pizza chain in the US launched a new university town in Florida. Called Ave Maria, the town boasts some very restrictive ideas about the idea of "community." Their marketing literature says:

The Town of Ave Maria is believed to be the first modern town to be developed in conjunction with a University. Located on what was once largely agricultural land, it has been designed to be a compact, walkable, self-sustaining town that reflects the community's rural roots while offering a full range of residential options and commercial services to its residents.

Importantly, Ave Maria has been designed to human scale. Street networks, distinctive character, and environmental sustainability are integral to its planning. It is to be a true community, where neighbors care about neighbors, friendships span generations, and a sense of pride is felt by every resident, student, and worker.

What the literature doesn't say is that town residents must share a very narrow view of morality.

The Associated Press writes:

NAPLES, Fla. - If Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan has his way, a new town being built in Florida will be governed according to strict Roman Catholic principles, with no place to get an abortion, pornography or birth control.

The pizza magnate is bankrolling the project with at least $250 million and calls it "God's will."

Civil libertarians say the plan is unconstitutional and are threatening to sue.

Ever since Andres Duany started hyping his "Advanced Traditional Neighborhood Development Techniques" to the American marketplace the hyper-stratification of of cities was a fait accompli. Canada has more or less resisted this force but as the world gets increasingly complex it is easy to predict that we too will see the affluent flee our cities. After all, why risk the discomfort of rubbing up against the unknown when you can live in a community of people just like you?

1. It adds to the madness and banananess of Florida. We all want to feel like we’re far away on vacation, and florida seems to be doing a good job of continually adding to the sentiment “it doesn’t even feel like we’re in America anymore”.
   —
   I already do get that xenophobic feeling (or rather, i feel like i’m in a xonophobic land) when i’m exploring some of the 905’s “neighbourhoods”. But, being Canada, they’re pretty mixed up ethnically—but it’s that over-riding suburban soccer-mon comfort/outsider/difference = bad sentiment that feels strong. I may be reading a lot into it, and projecting….but when i go back to my mom’s house in the suburbs (the house i grew up in) and i see somebody walking down the street, i get suspicious of them. Only trouble makers walk out here! So, where as ultra catholic Tom Monahan may want Ava Maria to fit into his moral view, perhaps that part is less in canada, but the class view is strong.

   Mel Gibson may want to move in though.

   Posted by Shawn Micallef  on  03/04  at  09:03 PM

2. The kitsch traditionalism is sure a U-turn from Monaghan’s past Taliesin-worshipping inclinations (especially considering that there’s a nearby FLW planning model at Florida Southern College).

   And re Micallef, check out the neighbourhood around St. Clare of Assisi in Vaughan—though more (apparently?) benign than Ave Maria, it certainly portends a future of traditionalist faith-based homogeneity actively “planned into” 905 ‘burbs. (Plus various other subdivisions planned around Sikh temples and the like.)

   Posted by Adam Sobolak  on  03/05  at  12:40 PM

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