• Neighborhoods are key to sustainable future

    A review of Douglas Farr’s Sustainable Nation: Urban Design Patterns for the Future
    Safeguarding the environment—largely by designing and operating buildings and communities more wisely than we’ve done for the past 200 years—is the most crucial endeavor the Earth’s inhabitants are now engaged in. If we fail, not only will the weather turn more deadly. Many species will die out,...Read more

  • Rebuilding for victims of California wildfires

    Model cottages will provide temporary housing for Habitat families who lost their homes to the fire, and these cottages can eventually be relocated for use as permanent housing.
    In October of 2017, wildfires in Northern California burned at least 245,000 acres and over 5,000 acres in Sonoma County alone. Since then, Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County has explored ways to expand its programs across the board to serve households displaced by October’s devastating...Read more

  • The toughest transformation

    Crosstown Concourse reused a massive blight in the midst of disinvested Memphis neighborhoods.
    For two decades, the 1.3-million-square-foot former Sears distribution center sat empty in the midst of disinvested Memphis neighborhoods—a symbol of urban blight. The building was too big to redevelop and too expensive to demolish, many thought. Now Crosstown Concourse represents the best kind of...Read more

  • New urban revival in flyover country

    Two journalists travel America in a Cirrus plane, reporting on public-private partnerships, "walkable manufacturing," and what makes second-tier cities succeed.
    Successful small-to-mid-sized cities cities have revitalized downtowns, brewpubs, and big plans, according to James and Deborah Fallows, authors of Our Towns: A 100,000-mile Journey into the Heart of America. . They add a tongue-in-cheek rule: “The mark of a successful city is having a river walk,...Read more