• Top-hat buildings

    While bemoaning another proposed flat-roofed box fronting on a new urban park in Charlotte, my city, I took a look at Central Park, Manhattan, on Google Maps 3-D and found all sorts of interesting, distinct yet similar, hats to buildings. These buildings were partly the creation of architectural...Read more

  • 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