• We need both EVs and the 15-minute city

    Without improvements in the way we plan and build communities, electric vehicles will never deliver on their sustainability promise.
    Farhad Manjoo's opinion piece for today’s New York Times notes the limits of electric vehicles (EVs). Despite a big market move to EVs and hybrids, the American fleet has barely improved its efficiency in the last 10 years—mostly because people are buying bigger cars. The move to bigger cars is...Read more

  • Guiding principles of the 15-minute city

    On Public Square, a recent article that lays out a design theory for the “15-minute city” is gaining a lot of viewers. Let's look at another influential take on this idea, that of Carlos Moreno, a French-Columbian scientist and university professor at the Sorbonne, and one of the chief proponents...Read more

  • How mixed-use development can raise the tax base

    Carmel, Indiana, is building a walkable downtown from scratch—and also planning to have a strong tax base for many years to come.
    Carmel, Indiana, a rapidly growing suburban city of more than 100,000 people, demonstrates the value of mixed-use development in raising tax revenues. In a presentation to Carmel City Council in early February, Redevelopment Director Henry Mestetsky made a strong case for focusing on downtown core...Read more

  • Suburban malls at the crossroads

    The reimagining of once-cherished malls has become a necessity for owners—not only to stay relevant and compete in the marketplace, but also to identify forward-thinking redevelopment strategies that bring additional viable uses and density.
    Over the last several years the retail landscape has changed dramatically—and potentially forever. With numerous store closings, bankruptcies, and changes in shopping habits, the malls we once flocked to in order to satisfy our shopping needs have, in many instances, become vacant relics...Read more