• Twelve steps of sprawl recovery

    In communities across America sprawl is giving way to more diverse places. Here are a dozen keys to that trend.
    The storm clouds of sprawl addiction had been gathering for years, but it took the Meltdown and the ensuing Great Recession to make it clear just how damaging that addiction had been to the health of cities across the US and abroad. Sprawl has two really big things going for it, but three even...Read more

  • They paved paradise, put up a parking lot

    The asphalt-industrial complex—otherwise known as Big Asphalt—took control of our cities and towns. Here's how we can take it back.
    In America we have 2.5 million miles of paved roads, and an estimated 800 million parking spaces . Dwight Eisenhower famously warned America about the "military-industrial complex." I think he should have warned the country about the "asphalt-industrial complex," which has done more damage to where...Read more

  • Better ‘honky tonk’ urbanism

    Nashville uses Tactical Urbanism to test out ideas on public space and street improvements downtown.
    Lower Broadway in Nashville is a major arterial in the heart of the famous “honky tonk” district, with restaurants and bars offering live music. Many modes of traffic, including cars, delivery trucks, buses, taxis, Ubers, and Lyfts, mix and compete with pedestrians, who have inadequate sidewalk...Read more

  • Context-based redesign solves street problems

    A pedestrian fatality spurred a transformation of a thoroughfare in Raleigh, linking a college campus to neighborhoods.
    Note: This case study was written for the Institute for Transportation Engineers new book Implementing Context Sensitive Design on Multimodal Corridors , funded by the Federal Highway Administration. A wide suburban arterial road separating the campus of North Carolina State University from city...Read more