Morris Square both roomy and dense

Anyone who remembers the old Simonton School — or the grassy field that existed for years after the school was torn down — can return to the Radcliffeborough neighborhood today and get a profound sense for how much Charleston is changing.

This city block bounded by Morris, Smith, Marion and Jasper streets has been reinvented yet again, this time as Morris Square, a mix of 32 homes, townhomes and condos, two commercial spaces as well as a large park and an intimate plaza.

Morris Square is the first large-scale urban infill project by developer Vince Graham, who is probably best known for I'On, a New Urbanist neighborhood in Mount Pleasant whose traditional design has been featured in National Geographic magazine and many other places.

But there are some big differences: While I'On was hugely controversial and ultimately saw its apartment and retail aspect diluted by town politics, Morris Square is pretty much what Graham and his planners hoped it would be.

That's partly because Graham had to work closely with the city. The development hinged on a land swap in which the city traded the existing Dereef Park for three separate parks to be built by Graham. They include the new Simonton Park (named after the old elementary school), the plaza and a future park to be built in the project's final phase north of Morris Street.

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.