• Turning a ‘stroad’ into a street

    “Stroad” is a term coined by Strong Towns’ Chuck Marohn to describe the poorly designed commercial streets found in conventional suburban environments across America. These thoroughfares are part street, part road, hence the name stroad, and perform neither function very well. Redesigning such...Read more

  • Calculating ‘induced demand’

    Recently the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) created a very simple tool that is long needed: A calculator of “induced demand” in transportation . This is the economic concept that applies when supply increases, price declines, and therefore demand for goods rises. Most notably and controversially,...Read more

  • Valletta cityscape

    This view of Valletta, Malta, by urbanist Dhiru Thadani, drawn from a peninsula that extends out to in the harbor, doesn’t seem to have changed much in centuries. A photo of the same view, easy to find on the Internet, reveals a few telecommunications towers, some motor vehicles, and splashes of...Read more

  • Eight ways for ‘receiver cities’ to prepare

    Great Lakes communities are prominent examples of what new urbanists often refer to as “receiver cities, towns, and villages.” They can prepare for migration by promoting growth that improves the quality of life of existing inhabitants.
    As the world’s climate changes, experts are looking around for places that are likely to receive in-migration of population. A growing number are pointing to the Great Lakes region, from Upstate New York to Minnesota, and its historic cities and towns. From a climate migration perspective, the...Read more