• From plan to place: Providence's downtown renaissance

    Like most historic US cities, Providence declined in the 20th Century but has since become a model for urban revitalization through investment and good planning.
    Editor's note: In the early 1990s, before I became a new urbanist, I visited Providence in the summer and was amazed at downtown, with its stunning turn-of-the-century commercial architecture that appeared to be mostly vacant. I had never seen anything that empty and that intact. I later learned...Read more

  • On Thanksgiving, it matters where you walk

    This holiday, experience the magic of a city or town. Let that become part of your family experience. It may change your life.
    To me, Thanksgiving smells of cool gray skies, bare trees, decaying leaves, and an old town in Connecticut. That’s where we spent many Thanksgivings when I was a child—at the 19 th Century house of an aunt and uncle. We always went for a walk—several walks—the older and younger generations together...Read more

  • Cycling Without Age and Walkable USA top 2024 Better Cities films

    Viewers can watch Cycling Without Age and other prize-winning urban films online, October 22-30.
    First+Main Films has announced the winning films from the 2024 Better Cities Film Festival . The Grand Prize Best Film and Best Short Film award goes to Cycling Without Age . The documentary by director Isaac Seigel-Boettner captures poignant stories of pedal-powered rickshaw pilots and their...Read more

  • Small city revival in PA

    A new urban approach yields economic benefits for small cities and towns like Phoenixville.
    Outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is known as a rural state. Less recognized are the many small urban municipalities throughout the state, with good historic architecture and streets. Many are gaining population. Phoenixville, a former industrial town about 20 miles northwest of...Read more