• Why malls are a bad public investment

    A failed mall is bringing down a neighborhood in Milwaukee, highlighting the advantages of more sustainable retail.
    Note: This article first appeared on Strong Towns .​ Public Square editor Robert Steuteville is on leave through the last week of October. Big investments can bring about big problems. Take the shopping mall , for instance: Built on the appealing premise of housing a bunch of commercial businesses...Read more

  • How place and prosperity interact

    William Fulton combines the sharp eye of a journalist, the objective rigor of an academic, and the practical experience of a leader in a book of urban essays, Place and Prosperity: How Cities Help Us Connect and Innovate.
    Ages ago, Saint Augustine juxtaposed the City of God and the City of Man. For the past forty years, Bill Fulton has been striving to reconcile the two. The heavenly city exists only as an ideal. The patron saint of contemporary urbanism, Jane Jacobs, described the earthly city as “organized...Read more

  • City seeks quality of life in the face of flood risk

    A levee, with promenade, would connect Norfolk’s citizens to the waterfront and protect against rising seas. The city is developing a comprehensive vision for how to “thrive” with climate change.
    Of all of US coastal cities, the climate change issues faced by Norfolk, Virginia, are among the most challenging. Norfolk faces the double whammy of sea level rise and land that is sinking at a rate of about a half a foot per century. It’s a very low-lying city, and one of the most vulnerable in...Read more

  • How missing middle fits on a block

    The term “Missing Middle Housing” has become a popular reference to middle-density, low-rise housing that has been missing from most new construction over the past half century. Examples include accessory dwelling units (ADUs), cottage courts, duplexes, small apartment buildings, and the like. The...Read more