If things have been looking a bit more colorful in the Twin Cities suburbs, much of the credit goes to Marc Putman.
Putman, who runs Putman Planning and Design in Hudson, Wisconsin, is the landscape architect behind such notable developments as Stonemill Farms in Woodbury and Liberty on the Lake in Stillwater. A disciple of “traditional neighborhood” developments—which typically have greater density and “walkability” than other residential projects—Putman helps developments offer colorful homes in traditional architectural styles set amidst “pocket parks” and narrow streets with sidewalks. His most recent project is the 594-acre, $1.5 billion Brandtjen Farms development in Lakeville, where homes recently began selling. The communities that Putman has designed in Minnesota and bordering states boast a collective population of more than 100,000 residents.
In a Putman project, lots tend to be relatively small and more oriented toward the street than the backyard. The homes have porches and sit on slightly raised lots so homeowners can see neighbors and the street. “A home shouldn’t be too close to the sidewalk or too far,” Putman says. “Twenty feet is a problem—that’s too far. Sixteen feet is about right. Doing these kinds of developments is about getting those details right and understanding the needs, wants, and desires of homeowners.”
Stonemill will someday encompass more than 1,000 single-family homes and 250 multifamily homes. Spirit of Brandtjen Farms sold a handful of homes so far. Putman’s best-known development to date, Liberty on the Lake (begun in 1998) is almost completed.
Getting local planners to see the advantages of such developments isn’t easy, Putman says. He calls land use the most “over-regulated” industry in the country and notes such laws raise the price of homes dramatically in his projects. The approval process for Liberty took more than 200 meetings “because there were so many radical ideas in our plan,” he says. ”There were no standards for it because we wrote them and designed them.” All that work added to the final cost of the development and the homes in it.
Putman continues to bang heads with planning boards, traffic engineers, and others, attempting to make them see community development through the lens of traditional neighborhoods. “You find in these public hearings you get vilified for being creative,” he says. “But they also serve, for me, as a great motivation to continue. When all the parts of a project are aligned properly, it can be good for all parties involved. The community is better for it, the surrounding neighborhoods are better for it, the residents are better for it.”
