Most prospective home buyers make note of room sizes, number of bathrooms and whether the kitchen needs updating. Dan Kirby looks at sidewalks. "Living in a neighborhood with a sidewalk is very important to us," says the director of development services at Boyken International. "We wanted to find somewhere that was walkable and convenient, where we could also have some fun."

In Step: The Kirbys (Dan, wife Allison and 11-month-old Elliana) live within walking distance of the Central City Market in Thornton Park. "It's critical to have a mixture of uses within close walking distance," says urban planner Dan Kirby. [Photo: Jeffrey Camp]

Nearly two years ago, Kirby and his wife, Allison, left the gated suburbs of Maitland and moved into a two-story, 1923 home in Thornton Park, a historic neighborhood in downtown Orlando with brick streets -- and, of course, sidewalks.

With the YMCA, Lake Eola Park, shops, restaurants and a new Publix Urban Market under construction two blocks away, the family can walk everywhere for their shopping and entertainment. The only places they can't get to on foot are their offices.

Kirby's devotion to city living spans his professional life as well. With degrees in architecture and urban planning, he's "all about cities and urban environments and what makes them tick."

Kirby is also vice chairman of the Orange County Urban Design Commission, served several terms on the county's planning and zoning commission as well as on the Mayor's Downtown Transition Team and is working with the city as it pursues a commuter rail system, new events center, new performing arts center and a renovated Citrus Bowl. "It's critical to have a mixture of uses within close walking distance," he says.

[Photo: Jeffrey Camp]

Next page, living aloft downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Living Aloft

YARD FREE: Parme sold his older home, trading in hours of yard work for a more urban lifestyle at Avenue Lofts in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Las Olas and the Riverfront are a short walk away. [Photos: Diane Bradford]

Paul Parme spent 10 years in Coral Ridge renovating, landscaping and enjoying all the do-it-yourself projects and weekly maintenance and upkeep homeowners of older homes face. "I loved it," says Parme, a partner with MobileForm, a contemporary European furniture manufacturer at DCOTA, "but I was literally working myself into oblivion every weekend maintaining it all." One weekend, shortly after his 41st birthday, he realized he had enough and put his home up for sale. In three months he had a contract and started looking at places in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Now, almost a year later, Parme is happily ensconced in his downtown home at the Avenue Lofts between 4th and 5th avenues.

While he used to have many separate and unused rooms, he now has lots of open living space. While he used to have gardens and a pool to maintain, he now has green space in his neighborhood, which he can enjoy without the upkeep. While downtown Fort Lauderdale used to be a drive away, it is now just outside his doorstep. He can walk to Las Olas for dinner or take an evening stroll at Riverfront.

"It's a different way of life. It's much more enjoyable because I have more time on my hands than I've ever had."