• ‘Car-free’ development substantially built

    A video of construction shows the public spaces taking shape at the innovative Culdesac Tempe, in Arizona. Designer: “Car-free is the future of New Urbanism.”
    The Culdesac “car-free” development in Tempe, Arizona, is one of the most anticipated new urban projects in the US, getting nationwide media attention . The unique 15-acre design of Culdesac Tempe, by Opticos Design, won a CNU award in 2021 . The development will provide 636 low-rise living spaces...Read more

  • Bird’s eye view of Jackson Square

    This photo of Jackson Square, New Orleans, was shot with a drone by architect and urban designer Steve Mouzon. A photographer and author of The Original Green , Mouzon has been using a drone for urban photography for the last seven months, and is convinced that drone photography is an essential...Read more

  • Abandoned railways and urbanism

    Lately I’ve been thinking about major opportunities for urbanism—places where compact, mixed-use development makes the most sense in cities and towns nationwide. Transit-oriented development—building walkable, urban projects near transit stations—is just one widely recognized example. Likewise, a...Read more

  • The cost of crashes is higher than congestion

    Congestion costs drive highway expansion decisions, but these costs are dwarfed by the impact of automobile crashes. Comparing the two points to a better strategy than widening thoroughfares.
    In 2019, the last full year before the Covid pandemic, the US lost $190 billion due to traffic congestion—mostly in urban areas—according to the Texas Transportation Institute’s annual Urban Mobility Report . The report provides an economic rationale for expanding highways and urban arterial...Read more