• Twelve steps of sprawl recovery

    In communities across America sprawl is giving way to more diverse places. Here are a dozen keys to that trend.
    The storm clouds of sprawl addiction had been gathering for years, but it took the Meltdown and the ensuing Great Recession to make it clear just how damaging that addiction had been to the health of cities across the US and abroad. Sprawl has two really big things going for it, but three even...Read more

  • Do you know the way, San Jose?

    A sprawling land that’s crossed by freeways—put a few thousand down and rent a room. Be a part of the next technology boom.
    In the late 1960s, when Burt Bacharach wrote the most famous song about San Jose, the small city was a sleepy source of nostalgia for someone living in fast-paced LA. Now San Jose is the nation’s tenth largest city and home, in its northern part, to more Fortune 500 companies than any other place...Read more

  • Building support for walking and bicycling infrastructure

    Set expectations you know you can meet or exceed with each step. For a bike lane, benefits like safety, increased fairness, and recreation and lifestyle are realistic.
    In my last post , I looked at the difficulty of getting things — like walking and biking infrastructure — done and how the manner in which we measure our accomplishments makes all the difference. Not just towards building momentum but towards building community. In short, it’s all about baby steps...Read more

  • Launched with Tactical Urbanism, code reform advances

    Hands-on process is changing the planning and development culture of San Marcos, a suburban Texas municipality.
    Form-coding and conversion of a one-way thoroughfare to two-way are advancing through public hearings in San Marcos, Texas—a mostly suburban city between Austin and San Antonio. In the meantime, development patterns are changing—some building owners are turning parking lots in front of buildings...Read more