Celebration, USA
John A. Pfeiffer, M.D., Family Practice website is now open!
The Official Celebration Web Site Is Here.
Introduction
Celebration, USA
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The town of Celebration, Florida, along with the town of Seaside, Florida, are the focal points for a new style of urban living known as "new urbanism".
New urbanism is a catch phrase referring to the retooling of American cities into small, close-knit communities where all the neighbors can be friends and everyone keeps their lawn mowed.
In practice, this general involves turn-of-the-centry looking houses build closer together, garages behind the house, and alleyways to access them.
Celebration is the Walt Disney Company's attempt at new urbanism. It is a planned community, a village built from the ground up to Disney's standards.
The project was given birth in 1994 in Central Florida, on the border of Disney's Walt Disney World property.
Anyone who has ever heard of Celebration will have strong opinions regarding this planned community.
They'll either love it (for the ideal it represents) or hate it (for the oppressive environment some perceive).
The problem is, not many people have actually heard of Celebration, Florida.
There's been no big media push. No television commercials inviting people to come live in Celebration.
Only recently has "new urbanism" entered America's lexicon, and that is mostly due to the influence of Seaside, Florida,
which is featured prominently in Jim Carrey's film, the Truman Show, and which has recently had some press coverage.
Celebration, on the other hand, Disney chooses to keep under their mouse-eared hats.
And why not? From an outsider's perspective, Celebration is a smashing success.
There are stories of waiting lists to get into Celebration, even with house prices ranging up to 20% over those of similar homes in neighboring communities.
Tourists crowd the town's core throughout the day and come back with tales of a beautiful little town where everything is clean and proper.
Celebration is perfect. And that's the way Disney wants to keep it.
Officially, there are no "rules" for living in Celebration. But if there are no rules, then there are certainly strong suggestions or recommendations.
Understandably, these guidelines have reportedly been put in place to maintain property values.
Call them what you will (rules, regulations, guidelines), every town has them. They're called by-laws. It's a fact of life.
Only, to make a better town, you must have tougher rules. You can't blame them.
And residents of Celebration understand this. If they're paying a premium for their home,
they're paying it for a reason. They're paying it so they can live in this ideal community,
and they understand that certain rules are necessary in order to keep this community just the way it is.
Simply, ask yourself this: Would you be willing to pay extra if you could be assured your neighbor always had his lawn mowed,
that his house paint never chipped, that he never had a car up on cement blocks in his drive way?
Now ask yourself this: Would you be willing to pay extra if you were constantly told what was wrong with your house and what you had to do to fix it,
that you have to mow your lawn and remove your broken down car from the front driveway?
It is a paradox that residents of Celebration must live in. Live by the rules, and you are living in paradise.
Break the rules, and you are living in a totalitarian state.
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