• 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

  • Planning for retrofit of retirement communities

    Continuing care retirement communities are a huge industry, planned in the suburban model, often with excess land that could be better utilized in a walkable, mixed-use form.
    The 231-acre Aldersgate campus in Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of 1,900 continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) in the US. Like most CCRCs, Aldersgate is set back from the surrounding city, planned in the single-use suburban model. More than 70 years after the development broke ground...Read more

  • Historic shopping mall site slated for mixed-use

    A major shopping mall that influenced 20 th Century retail is slated to become a mixed-use urban center after getting key State of Michigan approvals in late July. Designed by Victor Gruen, Northland Center in Southfield, Michigan, predated the first enclosed mall. It began as a large outdoor...Read more