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.
The plans for a new South Dakota town for sign language users designed by new urbanists have been shelved in favor of the redevelopment of an existing town. The Town of Laurent, which received national media attention and was featured on page one of...
Working families pay more for transportation than they save on affordable housing, according to Center for Housing Policy in Washington, DC. The research centered on low-to-moderate income families — with incomes between $20,000 and $50,000 — who...
Steve Mouzon has been named town architect for the South Main project, under construction near the Arkansas River in Buena Vista, Colorado. He spends two days a month there, leading design review meetings. On-site architect for design review is...
The Armory Arts and Music Center, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation in Duluth, Minnesota, is seeking a developer for the city’s mixed-use development district, the first site in Duluth to be developed under a form-based code. The district is an...
In a contentious September charrette, residents of Peterborough, New Hampshire, voiced conflicting opinions on whether a 22-acre property less than half a mile from downtown should be developed with 55 units of mixed-income housing and with new...
The latest flashpoint in national debate over the use of eminent domain is a decision by the Washington, DC, City Council authorizing seizure of the Skyland Shopping Center on Alabama Avenue in the southeast part of the city. If the city and the...
Strong population growth in and around Charlotte is stretching the ability of school districts to accommodate waves of students. “Neighborhoods in this region are growing so fast that new schools are over capacity before construction has even...
CEOs for Cities has produced a publication of some 70 pages that helps people evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their cities. Titled “City Vitals,” it contains statistical measures intended to help leaders understand their cities’ performance...
Small, hurricane-resistant dwellings are being rolled out by assorted designers and producers, using five different construction methods.
Joanna Lombard, a professor of architecture at the University of Miami, has worked with students and others on how to apply New Urbanism’s principles to medical districts in Miami and Memphis, and now she is providing ideas for the Bon Secours...
Every human settlement, from wilderness to metropolis, contains structures standing out in their singularity in that place. Others in the same locale recede from individual prominence. The latter do so either by being diffident in their...
Hedgewood Properties is achieving strong sales with two traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs) in the Atlanta region, the company reports. Vickery, a 600-unit new town with 117,000 square feet of commercial in South Forsyth County, is two...