• Make America walkable again

    A political diatribe accuses new urbanists of limiting liberty and imposing an exclusive vision on America. With support among liberals and conservatives, New Urbanism uses common sense to increase freedom for all and make communities healthier.
    The Federalist , a conservative online magazine, recently published what can only be described as a political diatribe against New Urbanism . The authors, a Florida couple Jonathan and Paige Bronitsky, rant about new urbanists’ “fanatical hatred of the automobile” and about its adherents’ supposed...Read more

  • US DOT releases ‘Climate Strategies that Work’

    The federal government offers a resource of 27 options, building on the recommendations of CNU.
    The US DOT has released the Climate Strategies that Work Playbook , building on its 2023 National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, recognizing the role of land use and transportation planning in climate change. CNU provided insights and recommendations for a report to Congress that...Read more

  • Complete streets: What went wrong?

    Law professor Michael Lewyn has written a comprehensive and readable analysis of the complete streets movement, why it has failed to transform America’s streets, and what can be done.
    The term “complete streets” was invented by staff members of national bicycle and smart growth advocacy organizations in 2003, and it was brilliantly effective in terms of moving legislation. Complete street policies have been the most adopted category of laws impacting transportation and the built...Read more

  • Twenty years of retrofit with a form-based code

    The regulations to transform the Columbia Pike suburban strip in Arlington were a milestone for form-based codes. A gathering of urbanists reviewed ongoing progress with 3,400 housing units, mixed-use, and public space built in the last 20 years.
    On September 28 th , the CNU DC | Mid-Atlantic Chapter of urbanists held a 20-year review and walking tour of the form-based code (FBC) for a former 3.5-mile strip-commercial portion of Columbia Pike in Arlington County, Virginia. The Pike aligns with the Pentagon, which employs 26,000 military...Read more