Celebrating Disney-Style New Urbanism

A ride into this central Florida community begins at a quaint water tower, continues along white fencing reminiscent of Kentucky horse country and ends at a pristine lake in the middle of town. The water tower is fake, the fence is made of hollow plastic and the lake is manmade....

In Celebration, messiness is prevented by myriad rules that seem to cover any contingency.The appearance of homes and lawns, alone, are governed by a 70-page pattern book.Among the rules: Curtains that face the street must be white or off-white. The color of a home, unless it’s white, can’t be duplicated within three homes on the same side of the street. At least a quarter of the front and side gardens must have something besides grass."