• Putting historic stables to new use

    The Chapman Stables housing in DC shows how sites can evolve radically, while the street-facing facade remains.
    Urban buildings and blocks transform radically over time. The Chapman Stables site on N Street NW in DC was a coal yard, stables, a garage and repair shop for Model Ts in the 1920s, a corrugated box factory, and a warehouse. The Truxton Circle neighborhood was a rough-and-tumble part of the City in...Read more

  • Cycling Without Age and Walkable USA top 2024 Better Cities films

    Viewers can watch Cycling Without Age and other prize-winning urban films online, October 22-30.
    First+Main Films has announced the winning films from the 2024 Better Cities Film Festival . The Grand Prize Best Film and Best Short Film award goes to Cycling Without Age . The documentary by director Isaac Seigel-Boettner captures poignant stories of pedal-powered rickshaw pilots and their...Read more

  • Creative townhome design in Birmingham

    Townhouses facing courtyards that are perpendicular to the street improve the quality of life for this building type.
    As townhouses gain popularity due to rising housing costs, creative designs allow this building type to appeal to more buyers. Avenue A Townhomes in Birmingham, Alabama, turn this common housing type into something great. On a 1.5-acre former industrial site, Nequette Architecture & Design...Read more

  • Office space conversion could lead to a virtuous cycle for cities

    Christopher Leinberger and Rebecca Rockey explain the historic opportunity to rebalance the real estate in urban centers.
    Cities need to “get real” and promote office building conversions to live- and play-oriented uses to avoid a structural “doom loop,” Christopher Leinberger and Rebecca Rockey told CNU’s On the Park Bench participants. The good news is that downtown office conversions are feasible in two ways: 1)...Read more