I didn't say Cathedraltown was New Urbanism - small letter new urbanism, maybe - but someone earlier said it would be better if it was true NU. Well, rubbish, I say, given failures like Cornell. It just doesn't work on the suburban fringe. The only thing within walking distance of Cathedraltown is an empty, unused cathedral, the 404, and assorted McMansions. Maybe there'll be a Subway one day. At least Ave Maria has a university and the beginnings of a college town. There's parking lots, yes (it is Florida) but I expect most of them to be built around, with parking forming the inner courtyard of some large blocks. I don't see how that's any worse than having 10+ feet of grass between every street and building.
Ave Maria is also very unfinished...it was a virgin swamp about 5 years ago. Maybe it's not ironic that Florida is ground zero for effective New Urbanism (in form, if not in function...perhaps we can look to the Woodbine development for NU-inspired stuff that really works, where the quaintness has tangible benefits and isn't just something to look at while driving by): the climate helps, the landscaping is instantaneously gorgeous, developers have carte blanche, NU projects offer something appealing relative to the extreme decentralized edge city sprawl elsewhere in the state, etc. Seaside, Celebration, Ave Maria...all were assisted by powerful parties (Disney, Domino's Monaghan, DPZ themselves) that had a vision and stuck to it. Cathedraltown may have turned out better if Roman was still alive...at the very least, I'm sure the cathedral would be less necrotic today, and the whole development would have more purpose and drive than just formulaically fleshing out what's in the watercolour renderings.
edit - I just realized that DPZ stands for Duany Plater-Zyberk yet is also the stock symbol for Domino's Pizza. Coincidence? Maybe Dan Brown should look into it. What's buried under that oratory?
