• CNU 26 Epic Riders Arrive in Savannah

    2018 in review and a preview of 2019

    After a groundbreaking year, CNU is gearing up for more action and progress in the next 12 months and beyond.
    CNU has inspired change. Our ideas and approaches have been adopted and implemented by allied (and not-so-allied) organizations, state and local governments, and urban design and development professionals throughout the U.S. and abroad. Just look at Rob Steuteville’s 25 Great Ideas to see the...Read more

  • When the parking bubble bursts

    In the last half of the 20th Century, we added massive quantities of parking to American downtowns, usually by tearing down buildings. This image by urban designer Victor Dover shows parking infrastructure, in pink, in downtown Atlanta. Many cities still have a similar amount of downtown parking...Read more

  • Walkability indexes are flawed. Let's find a better method

    Walking is vital to the economy, livability, and environment. Why can't we measure how many people are walking, versus driving, using data from smart phones?
    Walk Score was launched in 2007 and it was hailed as a big advance for pedestrians and urbanists. For the first time, you could type in an address anywhere in the US and get a score from 0 to 100 on “walkability.” Walk Score began as a small-scale project with a mission, “to promote walkable...Read more

  • Experience is the new buzzword for walkable town centers

    As the retail market becomes less certain, mixed-use developers look to other ways to boost foot traffic and create a destination.
    Online retail sales are having a mixed impact on urbanism. Downtowns are thriving, but many walkable mixed-use centers in the suburbs are struggling, says retail expert and urbanist Bob Gibbs of Gibbs Planning . Some mixed-use developments are focusing on “experience” to create foot traffic and...Read more