• Preserving the rural landscape with agrarian urbanism

    In addition to land use that perversely incentivizes the destruction of rural lands with 5-acre lots, the financial system further incentivizes rural subdivisions gobbling up farmland at a frightening rate.
    As the harvest starts to come in here in Manitoba and conversations with my farming friends point to a good yield, I’ve been thinking about how to preserve these lands . Rural communities are often the ones with the greatest constraints, especially when it comes to finances. Without federal support...Read more
  • Blue Water workforce housing, Florida

    Innovative design for affordable housing

    Blue Water workforce housing on Tavernier Key, Florida, created a system that of density that fits into the surrounding one- and two-story fabric.
    Dignified affordable housing that matches the quality and character of market-rate housing—without breaking the bank—is desperately needed across America. One of the most acute shortages is found in the Florida Keys, where restrictive growth management has resulted in very few affordable units...Read more

  • The million-dollar neighborhood

    Walkable mixed-use neighborhoods help families build wealth—enough to help fund big-ticket items like college and retirement.
    Houses appreciate. Cars depreciate. That simple contrast is a key to building wealth over a lifetime, writes Todd Litman, a researcher with the Victoria Transport Policy Institute. Even though housing is more expensive in walkable, transit-rich neighborhoods, vehicle costs are substantially lower...Read more
  • Katy Freeway

    Why urban freeway expansion is futile

    Outdated software and modeling overestimates the value of urban freeway expansions—and underestimates the effectiveness of alternatives like boulevards.
    Everyone hates freeway traffic congestion. Highway engineers promise to fix this problem by widening freeways and building new ones. For the past 80 years, engineers have been promising that the next round of freeway expansion will solve the problems. This has never worked. A few of the many...Read more