• A lucky boy who will be missed

    CNU co-founder Stefanos Polyzoides said of Bill Dennis: "We lost a brother."
    Bill Dennis was one of the first people I met in New Urbanism, when I stopped in at the charrette for Lakelands and Kentlands' Market Square in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in March of 1996. Andres Duany introduced me to Bill, an architect and urban designer, because he was a cool guy and a key...Read more

  • Why are fire officials hung up on street widths?

    A focus on one dimension ignores more important geographical aspects to public safety in a walkable city.
    Last week the Baltimore City Council voted to repeal the "20-foot-clear" requirement for fire access on city streets—replacing that standard with more flexible rules recommended by the National Association of City Transportation Officials. The change, which the mayor is considering signing, would...Read more

  • The amazing route diversity of street grids

    A mathematical equation helps to explain the endless variety of cities and the cookie-cutter sameness of conventional suburbs.
    After Public Square published an article on the capacity of street grids to handle traffic, developer Vince Graham sent us a mathematical equation that helps explain their power. Graham calls it the Hawthorne Equation—named for Casey Hawthorne, a math whiz who came up with it—which shows the number...Read more

  • How density and proximity are transforming retail

    As more retail moves into cities, the suburban boxes fronted by parking lots are giving way to more walkable designs.
    Big changes are taking taking place in retail, and not all of them have to do with online sales—which account for no more than 10 percent of total sales . A big shift has to do with the success of smaller, urban format stores like CityTarget opening in walkable urban locations across the US. People...Read more