• To reduce pedestrian deaths, focus on design

    We need a strategy for taming deadly thoroughfares that go through cities and suburbs.
    Pedestrian deaths have risen about 45 percent since 2009, reports the State Smart Transportation Initiative . Some experts have speculated that the cause is distracted driving, or even driving under the influence of marijuana. While any potential causes are worth investigating, the best ongoing...Read more

  • If houses were designed like car-oriented cities

    I found this satirical floor plan on the 21st Century City Twitter feed —illustrating the absurdity of automobile-oriented community design. Just like the heart of many cities and towns built since 1950, there is more space for vehicles than people. Moreover, everything is accessed from the...Read more

  • Small apartments in single-family neighborhoods

    A Midwest city considers an affordable option to house more families in walkable neighborhoods.
    To relieve a worsening shortage of housing, Minneapolis planners have suggested allowing the construction of four-unit apartment buildings in nearly all neighborhoods, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports . The proposal to ease zoning restrictions on single-family neighborhoods would help fulfill...Read more

  • Scully at Seaside

    A four-story-high mural of Vincent Scully, a Yale professor of architectural history over five decades, was unveiled at Seaside, Florida, in late February. The mural, commissioned by Seaside developer Robert Davis and DC-based architect Dhiru Thadani, was painted by Baltimore public muralist Andrew...Read more