• Your brain on streets

    The above images represent an analysis of two residential suburban streets, and answer the question of which one is likely to attract and interest more pedestrians. Aside from the fact that the one on the right has more sidewalks, the immediate human cognitive perception of these streets is quite...Read more

  • Conventional suburban versus hamlet design

    The conventional suburban site plan above left was drawn for a hilltop site in a large development project. Charlotte architect and urban planner Tom Low, director of Civic By Design , created the alternative New Urbanism plan of a hamlet. The idea is to develop a series of interconnected hilltop...Read more

  • Form-based codes rise again

    There are now 738 codes that meet the criteria for form-based codes, according to Emily Talen, Hazel Borys, and Matt Lambert, the team that keeps tracks of these codes on a website called The Codes Study . Of those codes, 439 are adopted. It's been a couple of years since the last update, when The...Read more

  • Street trees, a planetary prescription

    “The most effective way to fight global warming is to plant lots of trees, a study says. A trillion of them, maybe,” according to a July 4 article by the Associated Press . Street trees may be the most effective of all, because of their multiple beneficial impacts. In addition to sequestering CO2—...Read more