• Green Code will help Buffalo to grow again

    The Great Lakes city needs clear direction in building and revitalization, and the new Unified Development Ordinance can provide it.
    After six years and 242 public meetings, the Buffalo Common Council unanimously approved the Unified Development Ordinance, otherwise known as the Green Code, December 27. Buffalo became the third major US city to adopt a form-based code (FBC) for the entire city, after Miami and Denver. Many other...Read more

  • Jane Jacobs would be fighting to preserve affordable housing

    Note: This article was written as a speech to the first annual Jane Jacobs Award at Met Council Housing. Jane Jacobs wrote 12 wide-ranging, brilliant books. In them she wove together ideas about cities, city life, politics, economics, and social and cultural issues, so it’s hard to succinctly...Read more

  • 2016: CNU Year in Review

    After all the twists and turns and unexpected events of 2016, I’m ending this year the exact same way I started it: full of hope and gratitude.
    After all the twists and turns and unexpected events of 2016, I’m ending this year the exact same way I started it: full of hope and gratitude. The constant work and passion of CNU staff, our amazing members, and the New Urbanist movement continue to inspire me. Today, I want to share some...Read more

  • Streets are social and economic engines, not just car routes

    The transportation engineering toolbox is missing key tools when it comes to traditional cities, towns, and neighborhoods.
    Streets serve vital economic and social functions. Only in the 20th Century did the designers of streets place priority on the movement of motor vehicles—often to the exclusion of economic and social purposes of thoroughfares. Engineers will tell you exactly how many cars and trucks are expected to...Read more