• Picturing 15 homes per acre

    Misconceptions of density sometimes fuel opposition, but a low-rise single-family and missing middle housing mix can achieve 15 units per acre.
    In 2021, Massachusetts required 177 municipalities to rezone land within a half mile of transit service to allow 15 homes per acre by right. These cities and towns in the Boston area are served by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA). Some of the communities are getting public pushback on...Read more

  • Wrapping up a landmark new urban neighborhood

    Two handsome four-story buildings are on the final lots to be built in Glenwood Park, a Charter Award-winning neighborhood in Atlanta.
    Designed in 2001, Glenwood Park in Atlanta won a Charter Award in 2003 for its plan to transform a former industrial site into a new neighborhood. Historical Concepts designed and is developing a pair of mixed-use buildings to complete the project. Glenwood Park is located on the Atlanta Beltline,...Read more

  • How one building can make a difference

    There's been much discussion of creating what the late Ray Oldenburg called “third places,” why they are vanishing , and how they are linchpins of neighborhoods and social interaction. Neighborhood Lab, based in Copenhagen, created a graphic describing how a single building “can spark positive...Read more

  • How to reverse the ‘urban doom loop’

    Walkable places are critical to cities and the national economy and here’s a formula to get them back on track.
    Walkable urban places (WalkUPs) have been declining since 2019 due to the pandemic, rising disorder (or its perception), and a shrinking office market—but a new nationwide report says a virtuous cycle can be restored by rebalancing real estate and uses. Reiminaging Cities: Disrupting the Urban Doom...Read more