As you might recall from this post, my family visits Eagle Hurst Ranch each year. Religiously.
We just returned yesterday and I’ve enjoyed some lingering thoughts about the place – particularly after reading this post about the connection between great urban design and kids. I know – it seems like a HUGE stretch connecting Eagle Hurst with urban design, but it’s not.
Here’s what I saw and experienced. (And here is why I think we love it – both Eagle Hurst and great urban design – as much as we do!)
* The ranch is completely walkable. At no point during your stay do you need to use your car.
* The cabins are built around a central dining hall and the lodge – which also contains the registration area, game room, snack counter and the only tv on the property.
* TV – that’s right, there’s only one. In the lodge. So, if you’re inclined to indulge in a little boob tube, you’ll have to do so in the company of others, often negotiating what to watch. (Don’t even think about catching your favorite cable show out there. They have videos, but no streaming content.)
* Sidewalks, not streets, connect the cabins with the main buildings and with each other.
* Nature surrounds the place and inserts itself everywhere (at times when you least expect it). The stream at the bottom of the hill is just as inviting and far more entertaining than the swimming pool. The woods around the edge of the property are lined with trails – and cobwebs in the early hours. Critters abound, although most prevalent are of the insect variety.
* There is a sense of community. While walking to and from cabins, eating in the dining hall and exploring the property you run into to your neighbors. You choose whether or not to strike up a conversation and get to know one another better, but even if you don’t, you start to recognize them quickly.
* It’s safe. Due to the notes above – the lack of cars, the walkability of the property, knowing your neighbors – kids can run free. This was truly a vacation for Kate AND me. She ran around – sometimes with older cousins, sometimes alone – and I felt confident that she was safe and happy. Of course rules like ‘don’t go to the river or pool alone’ apply, but she is old enough to understand and abide.
(My posts don’t seem complete without a photo, so here is one of Kate as I found her before lunch one day.)

We spend time at Eagle Hurst and relax. Of course, we relax because we’re away from our jobs and the fast pace of the city. But we also relax because of how it is designed and how we “live” there.
So, after reading this article which the Urban Land Institute tweeted, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander a bit to Eagle Hurst Ranch . Now, I’m not pretending to say that it is the perfect urban community. It’s not – it’s a resort. It’s not a city or even a town. It is, however, something special and each year I try to define what it is that makes it special.
This year, Eagle Hurst was special in light of this article.
Maybe there is something to it…