Pictures: Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Fla., shown June 19, 1998, had just the picture-perfect, made-for-TV look that movie makers wanted as the setting for their fake Utopia in “The Truman Show.’’ People who live, work and visit here, however, say it is the real thing, although it can be difficult at times to separate movie fiction from the facts of Seaside life.

(BILL KACZOR / Associated Press)

Orlando Sentinel

May 9, 2017 6:39 AM PT

Seaside in the Florida Panhandle is an urban design masterpiece, made for walking, laid out so pedestrians can make their way from beach to downtown at a leisurely stroll.

As an example of New Urbanism, Seaside’s architecture displays a variety of styles.

(Phil Marty / HANDOUT)

Pretty cottages are one of the accommodation options in Seaside, along Scenic Highway 30A in the Florida Panhandle.

(David Bailey for Walton County TDC/Beaches of South Walton)

Seaside, Florida neighbor Rosemary Beach

Rosemary Beach was established in 1995 but construction continues. The town shares the same stretch of Florida Panhandle coast as Seaside, the utopian town featured in the Jim Carrey movie, “The Truman Show.” And the two towns share many similarities. Both communities use the “New Urbanism principle,” a concept that promotes walkable shopping districts, downtown parks and grid streets.

(Carrie Alexander / ORLANDO SENTINEL)