• Never mind NIMBY and YIMBY–it’s time for ‘QUIMBY’ urbanism

    We need a major rethink of gentrification and affordability challenges if we’re going to get anywhere. “Quality In My Back Yard” may offer a path.
    Note: Public Square editor Robert Steuteville is on leave from late September through the last week of October, 2022. In the meantime, we are offering some popular articles from 2022 in addition to new content. The urban scholar Jane Jacobs was famous for pointing out that if we don’t understand “...Read more

  • Vision for livability along an Interstate

    I-494 forms the border between two Minnesota suburbs. A CNU Legacy team created a plan to improve life for economically disadvantaged residents of the area.
    Bloomington and Richfield, Minnesota, are two cities in the Minneapolis/St. Paul region divided by a common highway—Interstate 494. Although both cities include street grids, that network is broken at I-494, which forms the municipal border (Richfield to the north and Bloomington to the south)...Read more

  • A “15-minute city” underway in the Highlands

    Tornagrain in Scotland sets a British example of planning the “15-minute city.” Designed in 2006 and delayed by the 2008 worldwide recession, Tornagrain has been in vertical construction for the last six years near Inverness, the largest city in the Highlands. Architecture Today , a UK publication...Read more

  • A 25-year laboratory of suburban transformation

    Orenco Station in Hillsboro, Oregon, is a model for more sustainable suburbs and regions.
    I first visited Orenco Station in 2000, when it was one of the most talked-about transit-oriented developments (TODs). Back then, few prominent TOD examples existed anywhere in the US. Now they are much more common. My impression of Orenco was that of decent New Urbanism, but not good TOD. Arriving...Read more