• Model for suburban retrofit in the Inland Empire

    Rancho Cucamonga is implementing urbanism on arterial roads and suburban commercial areas. This plan is intended to lead the way to density and mixed-use in a suburban city in Southern California.
    Some experts predict the major development trend in the next 20 years will be “urbanizing the suburbs,” bringing density and mixed-use to underutilized commercial areas. If so, the Inland Empire of Southern California, with 4.6 million people, could be a test case. Rancho Cucamonga, an important...Read more

  • 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