05/28/2026

TOMORROW! APA-ISS Region 5: New Town St. Charles Tour

New Town St. Charles is a master-planned community in St. Charles, Missouri, designed around traditional neighborhood principles with walkable streets and mixed-use development. It features a variety of housing types, lakes, parks, and a town center with shops, restaurants, and events. The community emphasizes a small-town feel with modern amenities and strong pedestrian connectivity.    Planning for New Town St. Charles began in 2003 (with a major public charrette), construction started in 2004, and the first residents moved in by 2005.   Since then, the project has weathered the “Great Recession” economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic while continuing to build-out in phases within its five neighborhood districts.

During the tour of New Town (led by Town Planner Tim Busse, AIA, planners will see how this New Urbanist / Traditional Neighborhood Development is organized into five compact, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods centered around a dense town center, a working farm where residents can grow their own food, and an extensive system of lakes and canals that double as stormwater infrastructure and recreation. Other key features Mr. Busse will highlight include New Town’s strong pedestrian network, mixed housing types, integrated retail and civic spaces, public greens and plazas, and an emphasis on placemaking through waterfronts, parks, and community gathering areas.  As an architect, Mr. Busse is also knowledgeable about how building exteriors, setbacks, and amenity placement are all critical to the quality of life characteristics that New Town offers.  While a “new town” style development is unlikely to occur in EVERYONE’S town, planners on the tour will certainly witness first-hand the many New Urbanism concepts that could potentially be woven into their own communities!

Meet at Town Hall at 3300 Rue Royale, St. Charles, MO 63301  

The tour planned to run 2pm til 4pm with planned food/drinks in New Town at the conclusion. This is a free event!

There’s still plenty of room if you want to join this tour!  (Bring a planner friend!)  Unique insights not how things came to be there and how this New Urbanist development has evolved over the past 25 years. 

Kindly RSVP to Scott Hanson at shanson@cmtengr.com so that we can keep an eye out for you before we depart.