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.
Those who attended the CNU annual conference in Washington, DC, last June noticed something very encouraging: Not only is the nation’s capital booming, it’s booming in neighborhoods that had been falling apart for decades. And some of the new...
Toronto urban planner Ken Greenberg is advising the City of Boston on how to bring coherence to the 1.5-mile Rose Kennedy Greenway, which is being created where the “Big Dig” has submerged the Central Artery. Greenberg will focus not only on the...
According to a study by the US EPA, “Travel and Environmental Implications of School Siting,” students are more likely to walk or bike to their school if it’s nearby and if the environment is pedestrian-friendly. By increasing the number of students...
Inner-city retail development continues to lag in all but a few US cities despite an expansion in real estate financing instruments, according to a new report from Brookings Institution. “Shopping the City: Real Estate Finance and Urban Retail...
The first TND in Montana is under way. Baxter Meadows, in Bozeman, has a handful of houses occupied. The site is 440 acres, and not all of it is TND. About a third of the site is estate lots. Two-thirds of the site has an interconnected network of...
Anyone familiar with demographics in California knows about the state’s surging Latino population growth. By the year 2020, the numbers of Latinos in the state will exceed the number of non-Hispanic whites, says the California Department of Finance...
The Mansfield Downtown Partnership in November selected Storrs Center Alliance LLC as master developer for the planned commercial town center near the south end of the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs, Connecticut. The Storrs Center...
The Seaside Institute awarded the 2003 Seaside Prize in October to Giancarlo De Carlo and Donlyn Lyndon. The prize is awarded each year to the individuals or organizations making significant contributions to the quality and character of communities...
The City of Temple Terrace, near Tampa, Florida, is moving forward with its plans for a mixed-use new urban town center. The city is reportedly negotiating with Dover Kohl & Partners to put tegether a design charrette. With the recent purchase...
Professionals from many nations and disciplines gathered in Stockholm in early November to sign the Charter for European Urbanism. The signing officially forms the Council for European Urbanism (CEU). The event followed a spring council in Bruges...
In what may be a first, public officials in Lancaster, Texas, approved three new urban developments in one meeting in November. In October, officials approved a form-based code and street standards to govern development of the projects. Developers...
The Boston Area Chapter of the Next Generation of the New Urbanism — young professionals and students — plans to organize a workshop during the coming year on better development practices and to study the difficulties of building well-loved places...