• Zoning reform is national priority, White House says

    Administration calls for local laws to allow accessory dwelling units and denser development and eliminate off-street parking requirements, among other changes.
    The Obama Administration is calling on cities and towns to reform land-use regulations to allow denser development by right while recommending actions that new urbanists have long supported. The administration released a “ toolkit ” on housing development that recommends eliminating off-street...Read more

  • Ten years of marvelous Porchfest

    "Porches become stages, yards become venues, and radical generosity and good will rule the day."
    A couple recently went looking for a house in Ithaca, New York. When the real estate agent took them to Fall Creek, a 40-plus-block area north of downtown, she exclaimed "This is the Porchfest neighborhood!" while pointing out hand-painted signs in front of houses up and down the streets. What...Read more

  • The value of walkability and Walk Score inaccuracies

    A study by Redfin, the owner of Walk Score, shows that true walkability has tremendous economic value—but Walk Score itself has problems.
    A single point in Walk Score adds $3,000 in value to a house, according to nationwide study that included more than a million home sales. That is a powerful premium and more proof that home buyers value walkable neighborhoods. Walk Score is a website that scores the "walkability" of any address...Read more

  • Occupy Main Street

    Great Barrington’s Main Street should be a place where place people want to get out of their cars to shop, eat, and socialize—under a canopy of trees. That’s not what state departments of transportation build, however.
    An old Chinese proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” In other words, it’s not too late to fix the economic and social problems the recent rebuilding of Main Street brought to town. Great Barrington’s Main Street has lost the curb appeal that...Read more