BOUNTIFUL -- Three developers spoke to the Davis County Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, each touting a new "village" they are designing in the county.

In each case, village denotes a mixed-use development in which office, retail and residential spaces mingle and intertwine in one large development.

"There's nothing like this in Bountiful right now," said Stephen Terry of IDG Horizon. "Soon there will be some others."

The same could be said for the entire county. Although a new design style in Davis County, the idea has become very popular with multiple projects just beginning.

IDG's Village on Main Street in Bountiful will feature one main building with ground-level space for commercial, office or medical/dental businesses. An elderly-only section will feature 192 new apartments, an indoor pool and library. Across the courtyard will be a family-friendly section, also with 192 apartments, an outdoor pool and playground. Five disconnected commercial spaces will dot the parking lot.

Partly driving the sudden burst of enthusiasm for the mixed-use model is the construction of the FrontRunner rail line.

David Rasmussen of Midtown Development recently signed a deal with Clearfield to construct a 1.2 million-square-foot conglomeration near the future train stop in the city.

He said the gigantic Midtown Village project couldn't be more welcome.

"We have a great relationship with Clearfield," Rasmussen said. He explained how at a city council meeting last week, during the finalization of the development arrangement, the motion to approve the project was heartily seconded.

"The reason why the sentiment is that way with Clearfield right now," Rasmussen continued, "is that the property we're bringing is very significant to the area."

With Davis County already dotted with stores, offices and condos, what's so great about putting them all together in one location?

Ben Lowe of Compass Development tried to provide the answer. He described a recent trip he took to Los Angeles. Communities are scrambling to build denser developments and walkable communities to mitigate the traffic problems that metro areas suffer.

"It's nice to see the Wasatch Front start this process earlier. We're really starting to grow and realizing we need to grow up, we need to have walkable communities," he said. "We're not, hopefully, going to do the same thing that other communities have done which is spread too far and try to patch it up afterward," he said.

Compass Development is building Eaglewood Village to the east of Interstate 15 in North Salt Lake, an area Lowe described as the "gateway to Davis County." At 1.5 million square feet, it's the largest of the three villages.

A representative of Big D Construction also spoke at the luncheon and asked the business community to be patient. Huge construction projects cause dust and detours, he said.

"Please don't cuss the dust," Big D business development manager Ron Remkes said. "It's a sign of great things happening."