• The remarkable potential for retrofitting strip malls

    Redeveloping the most favorable 10 percent of suburban strip malls in the Boston region would meet a major portion of the area’s housing needs in the next decade, according to a study.
    An analysis of the Boston region showed that retrofitting just 10 percent of strip malls could provide 125,000 housing units—boosting local annual net tax revenues by $481 million. Retrofit would avert an estimated 10 square miles of impervious surface and 400,000 metric tons of carbon emissions...Read more

  • From strip commercial to neighborhood hub

    A strip plaza, never a part of the walkable fabric, is redeveloped to be a well-connected neighborhood commercial and social center.
    Bryant Street is a ‘Main Street’ mixed-use, neighborhood center redevelopment of a 13-acre, surface parked shopping center in the Edgewood neighborhood of Washington, DC. The historical circumstances of the site suggest that the sloping property, even though located well within the city bounds, was...Read more

  • Biggest suburb gets a new downtown as walkable becomes legal

    Code reform and light rail, plus a key development, are helping to transform the center of Mesa, Arizona.
    A form-based code (FBC) and a recent light rail line are helping to revive downtown Mesa, Arizona. The Grove on Main development, newly completed with 240 apartments, 12 townhomes, ground-floor retail, and 1.5 acres of landscaped open space on 4.5 acres, is a linchpin of downtown revitalization,...Read more

  • A little vision, a small site on the water, makes a huge asset

    Even a small waterfront site can turn into a social and economic draw for a city or town.
    Ever since, perhaps, our evolutionary predecessors made their way out of the marine environment onto land, people have been attracted to the water—socially, economically, and aesthetically. Recent CNU Charter Award winners have been waterfront projects—especially the 2020 and 2021 Grand Prizes. A...Read more