Archives
Welcome to the archives of Better Cities & Towns, a publication founded by Robert Steuteville as New Urban News in 1996. This archive holds two decades of the best news and analysis on compact, mixed-use growth and development, from 1996 to 2015.
Landmark buildings can more than pay for themselves through weddings and other functions.Landmark buildings can more than pay for themselves through weddings and other functions.
A new owner, Woolbright Development, is trying to fill empty retail spaces and overcome persistent problems at the Abacoa Town Center in Jupiter, Florida. About a third of the storefronts in the 91,400 sq. ft. town center stood empty in mid-October...
The Louisiana state housing board cleared the way in late October for construction of 75 “Louisiana Cottages” at Jackson Barracks, the National Guard’s headquarters in New Orleans. The modular units, designed by new urbanists for hurricane-damaged...
The Metro system in greater Washington, DC, has failed to work effectively on attracting transit-oriented development (TOD) to many of the properties the system owns near its commuter rail stations, according to a recent report by a panel of experts...
The US Green Building Council has established a Web site called Build Green Schools, offering guidance on why and how to construct schools that reduce energy consumption and treat the natural environment well. The site is www.buildgreenschools.org....
Laura Hall has joined with Robert Alminana to form Hall Alminana, an urban design firm with offices in San Francisco and Santa Rosa, California. Laura Hall’s previous partner, Lois Fisher, now practices under the name Fisher Town Design in Santa...
Pioneer emphasized architecture’s role in “perpetual rebirth of cities.”��
David Lewis, the pioneering educator and founder of the firm Urban Design Associates, became the fifth recipient of CNU’s Athena Medal for lifetime achievement in a November...
CORRECTION: The plan below was misidentified on page 7 of the October/November issue. Called Sasay, it is located in Coban, Guatemala, and the developer is R&R Development. The designers are Seth Harry and Associates and Jaime Correa and...
By Douglas FarrJohn Wiley & Sons, 2007, 304 pp., $75 hardcoverAmericans love to celebrate “our robust range of life choices,” Chicago architect and urban designer Douglas Farr writes in this potentially important book. We express satisfaction...
Toll Brothers, which builds houses and apartments in 22 states, reported in November that customers backed out of purchase contracts at the highest rate the company has ever seen. While most conventional developments received ratings of “F,” “F-...
The Texas Transportation Commission, which oversees the Texas Department of Transportation, appointed an informal urban thoroughfare team that includes John Norquist, CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism, Scott Polikov of the Gateway Planning...