Real Downtowns Beat Manufactured Ones—Even in Central Florida

Since the opening of Celebration in 1996, Central Florida has played host to a slew of new developments dreamed up by New Urbanists. Communities like Baldwin Park, which was built at the site of a closed naval base and opened in the early 2000s, offer lots of parks, spiffy new single and multi-family housing mixed with small-scale retail, and office space, all of it walkable. They're meant to look like a small town's downtown, albeit one ruled by a benevolent dictator with excellent taste.

These places sell pretty well, and to the right (read: financially well-off) people. But how do they compare to actual small-town downtowns? Over Thanksgiving, the Orlando Sentinel launched a Sweet 16-style contest to determine Central Florida's "other best downtown." The first best downtown being that of downtown Orlando, naturally, which Sentinel columnist Beth Kassab praises despite it having "hardly any shopping and only an average dining scene." The contest ends Dec. 16.