• Kalamazoo to build pre-approved cottages

    Kalamazoo has allocated $480,000 to build three cottages from its catalog of pre-approved plans. The Michigan city will build the 864 sq. ft. single houses on infill land owned by the Kalamazoo County Land Bank. Construction is expected to begin in May and the houses will be sold to households...Read more

  • Achievements in community design and architecture

    Some noteworthy projects show how skilled architects and urban designers are tackling mixed-use, civic, housing, and infrastructure challenges around the US.
    Designing the “architecture of community” poses endless problems, but elite new urbanists in the Urban Guild are up to the challenge. After serving on this year’s Urban Guild Awards jury, I have been reporting on many awarded projects over the last few weeks. Today, I highlight more extraordinary...Read more

  • TOD creates public space in suburban DC

    Construction along the future Purple Line creates a dense, mixed-use urban center—providing residents with options besides driving in the congested Maryland suburbs.
    Chevy Chase Lake is a mixed-use, transit-oriented development (TOD) completed this year on a suburb-to-suburb light rail line under construction just outside Washington, DC. Replacing a strip shopping center, its first two completed phases comprise three buildings totaling 530 units, 110,000 square...Read more

  • Old walls, new homes

    Adaptive reuse as a solution for housing
    Across the United States, cities are grappling with housing shortages and the challenge of revitalizing underutilized spaces. Vacant malls, abandoned factories, shuttered schools, and empty churches often sit idle, wasting valuable potential. But these structures don’t have to remain relics of the...Read more