u/Anonymousfoxtrot

My wife and I have been looking at where we want to settle down and raise a family, but after traveling all over the US and Europe and touring hundreds of villages, towns, and cities, we realized we haven’t found a place that combines everything we want.

We love historic places like Savannah: narrow streets, squares, porches, courtyards, mature trees, gardens, shops woven into neighborhoods, and beautiful traditional architecture.

But we keep wishing places like that went much further: no cars inside at all, much denser and more pedestrian, with daily needs and third places distributed throughout the village rather than a residential subdivision attached to a little “town center.”

I grew up in LA with Disneyland annual passes, and one thing Disney does exceptionally well is treating the pedestrian environment as a complete experience. Buildings, landscaping, paths, courtyards, lighting, views, shops, and tiny details all reinforce one another.

So we started asking: why should environments designed that carefully only exist somewhere you visit? Why couldn’t you actually live in one?

The idea we’re exploring is a dense, car-free residential village built near a major metro area, so residents would still have good access to a real city.

There would be a more active public-facing village center with restaurants, cafés, shops, gardens, entertainment and events, surrounded by quieter residential lanes, courtyards and gardens. Small cafés, markets, pubs and playgrounds could also be sprinkled throughout the residential areas rather than concentrating everything in one center.

We wouldn’t want it to feel like an instant subdivision where 300 identical “historic” houses appeared at once. The idea is to build incrementally in smaller phases, with different building types, architectural periods and layers so the place becomes richer as it grows.

We’re also working on a CNC-based construction system that can automate historically accurate architectural details at much lower cost, because making this accessible beyond ultra-luxury housing is one of the major problems we’re trying to solve.

We’re serious about exploring whether this can actually be developed and have already been talking with developers, architects, planners and potential residents.

The question I’m most interested in is personal rather than theoretical:

Assume this existed within reasonable distance of a major city, and a home there was within the range you could realistically afford.

Would you seriously consider living somewhere like this?

If yes, what part of the lifestyle is doing it for you?

And if your reaction is basically “yes, I would actually consider moving there,” please DM me. We’re doing short 15-minute conversations with interested people to understand whether there’s a real market.

TL;DR: Dense traditional village, completely car-free internally, mixed-use, lots of third places, near a major metro, built incrementally with Disneyland-level attention to the pedestrian environment. Would you personally consider living there?

My wife and I have been looking at where we want to settle down and raise a family, but after traveling all over the US and Europe and touring hundreds of villages, towns, and cities, we realized we haven’t found a place that combines everything we want.

We love historic places like Savannah: narrow streets, squares, porches, courtyards, mature trees, gardens, shops woven into neighborhoods, and beautiful traditional architecture.

But we keep wishing places like that went much further: no cars inside at all, much denser and more pedestrian, with daily needs and third places distributed throughout the village rather than a residential subdivision attached to a little “town center.”

I grew up in LA with Disneyland annual passes, and one thing Disney does exceptionally well is treating the pedestrian environment as a complete experience. Buildings, landscaping, paths, courtyards, lighting, views, shops, and tiny details all reinforce one another.

So we started asking: why should environments designed that carefully only exist somewhere you visit? Why couldn’t you actually live in one?

The idea we’re exploring is a dense, car-free residential village built near a major metro area, so residents would still have good access to a real city.

There would be a more active public-facing village center with restaurants, cafés, shops, gardens, entertainment and events, surrounded by quieter residential lanes, courtyards and gardens. Small cafés, markets, pubs and playgrounds could also be sprinkled throughout the residential areas rather than concentrating everything in one center.

We wouldn’t want it to feel like an instant subdivision where 300 identical “historic” houses appeared at once. The idea is to build incrementally in smaller phases, with different building types, architectural periods and layers so the place becomes richer as it grows.

We’re also working on a CNC-based construction system that can automate historically accurate architectural details at much lower cost, because making this accessible beyond ultra-luxury housing is one of the major problems we’re trying to solve.

We’re serious about exploring whether this can actually be developed and have already been talking with developers, architects, planners and potential residents.

The question I’m most interested in is personal rather than theoretical:

Assume this existed within reasonable distance of a major city, and a home there was within the range you could realistically afford.

Would you seriously consider living somewhere like this?

If yes, what part of the lifestyle is doing it for you?

And if your reaction is basically “yes, I would actually consider moving there,” please DM me. We’re doing short 15-minute conversations with interested people to understand whether there’s a real market.

TL;DR: Dense traditional village, completely car-free internally, mixed-use, lots of third places, near a major metro, built incrementally with Disneyland-level attention to the pedestrian environment. Would you personally consider living there?

I’ve been a huge Disneyland fan since I was very little and had annual passes growing up in LA. My wife and I have been looking at where we want to settle down and raise a family, but after traveling all over the US and Europe and touring literally hundreds of villages, towns, and cities, we realized that none of the places we’ve seen really come close to the quality of architecture, placemaking, and just general atmosphere of Disneyland, particularly New Orleans Square.

We thought, if there isn’t a place like this, why not build one?

Our idea is to basically create a ticketed commercial area and private residential partition that rivals or even exceeds the quality of architecture and placemaking as Disneyland, with real historically accurate construction and building techniques. The public would get ticketed access to the commercial area with shops, restaurants, cafes, gardens, entertainment, etc, while residents would actually live inside the village. Some homes could have balconies overlooking the public areas, kind of like actually living on Main Street or in New Orleans Square, while other residential lanes and courtyards would be completely private. A variety of home types and sizes could increase diversity of residents, aiming to foster a more inclusive and vibrant residential community.

The whole thing would be car-free inside, and the ticket revenue from visitors could help subsidize the residential side and pay for maintaining the architecture, landscaping, public spaces, and overall quality of the place.

We’re serious about trying to develop this idea. We’ve spoken with developers, planners, and other people in the industry, and right now we’re trying to figure out whether there is actually a market for something like this.

So I’m curious, would you guys be interested in actually living somewhere like this?

Attached is some early blue-sky-style concept art showing what a historic LA-themed version of the village could feel like.

If you could seriously see yourself living somewhere like this, what would have to be true for you to consider it? Price? Location? Schools? Access to jobs? Home size?

And if your immediate reaction is basically “yes, I would live there,” DM me! I’d love to talk for like 15 mins and hear what you think.

TL;DR: My wife and I want to build a “Disneyland-you-can-live-in” residential development and are trying to see if there’s actually demand for something like this.

Curious what anarcho capitalists here think of concept for a private development. Images are AI concept art just to communicate the idea.

Imagine a privately developed pedestrian town near a major economic hub: homes, cafés, restaurants, shops, parks, etc. Cars stay around the perimeter, so the interior is genuinely walkable and safe for kids.

The common spaces would be privately managed, with the operator financially incentivized to keep the place beautiful, safe, clean, and desirable, funded a yearly resident fee. Admission pricing/parking could also naturally regulate tourism and crowding rather than relying on political restrictions.

It also wouldn’t be master-planned and frozen in time. The idea would be to grow incrementally, using actual demand, resident feedback, and how people use the place to decide what gets built next, so the town can continuously evolve around the needs of the community.

Basically: can markets, private property, and feedback loops create a beautiful walkable town better than centralized planning can?

Would you live somewhere like this?

If this is the kind of place you’ve actually wished existed, DM me. We’re talking to interested people and would love to hear your thoughts in a short interview.