• Nashville’s sidewalk deficit and America’s torn civic fabric

    To bring citizens together is the very purpose of a city. Nashville’s sidewalk deficit emerged for many reasons, but it boils down to this: Planning and development during the Age of Sprawl was designed to keep people apart.
    About half of Nashville’s thoroughfares lack sidewalks—a problem that the city has been trying to solve for two decades with limited success. The issue was a bone of contention in last year’s mayoral campaign, reports CityLab . Sidewalks are critical infrastructure for connecting people in the city...Read more

  • Green Code will help Buffalo to grow again

    The Great Lakes city needs clear direction in building and revitalization, and the new Unified Development Ordinance can provide it.
    After six years and 242 public meetings, the Buffalo Common Council unanimously approved the Unified Development Ordinance, otherwise known as the Green Code, December 27. Buffalo became the third major US city to adopt a form-based code (FBC) for the entire city, after Miami and Denver. Many other...Read more

  • 2016: CNU Year in Review

    After all the twists and turns and unexpected events of 2016, I’m ending this year the exact same way I started it: full of hope and gratitude.
    After all the twists and turns and unexpected events of 2016, I’m ending this year the exact same way I started it: full of hope and gratitude. The constant work and passion of CNU staff, our amazing members, and the New Urbanist movement continue to inspire me. Today, I want to share some...Read more

  • How to get by-right zoning right

    The Form-Based Coding process ensures that the discussion about where and what type of housing to allow happens at a community level, rather than on a project-by-project basis.
    By-right zoning is getting a lot of buzz these days as a needed tool to help solve the affordable housing crisis many communities are facing. For those unfamiliar, a zoning code is considered “by-right” if the approvals process is streamlined so that projects that comply with the zoning standards...Read more