Top 10 articles for 2018
Street design topics, innovative housing types and policies, and large-scale urban planning patterns made for most-read articles on Public Square this year. Bad architecture and the impact of automated vehicles also were fodder for popular pieces. Here are the top 10 articles on Public Square for 2018:
This article takes a long view of the history of community design in the US, focusing on times when a new national pattern emerges that can impact life for generations, even centuries. The Jeffersonian grid, established in the early 19thCentury, dominated for a century and a half and still sets the foundation for daily life in countless historic cities and towns. The post-World War II reset created modern sprawl, but demand for that pattern is waning. What will the next “reset” bring?
Why street grids have more capacity
The great traffic engineer Walter Kulash discusses why street grids can handle so much traffic gracefully.
Road diet bridges a barrier, boosts safety
In the Bird Rock area of San Diego, a street transformation boosted safety, walkability, and the economy. Many places could use this kind of street design.
This elegant, flexible house can be designed in many combinations to suit a variety of life styles and boost household income.
Gentle Density: Making neighborhoods transit ready
Minor zoning fixes can bring additional residential units and households to low-density suburbs, allowing neighborhoods to support transit.
Congestion can be good, study reports
There’s good congestion for cities, like good cholesterol for the human body—and here’s the study that proves it.
Why are fire officials hung up on street widths
This article explores why fire officials demand wider streets, negatively impacting public safety.
Street design implications of automated vehicles
This article takes a generally positive view of AVs, but street design is critical for their success.
The default style of pointless variety
Why are so many new apartment buildings badly designed?
L’Enfant’s sacred design for Washington DC
There’s a lot more to Washington’s street grid than meets the eye. Pierre L’Enfant designed for God and the cosmos. Too bad his enduring high aspirations only occasionally rub off on US politics.
