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 City of Alexandria, Virginia, in March approved a high-density neighborhood centered on a transit station plaza. Described as a “city within a city,” Eisenhower East actually wraps around a new urban community under construction called Carlyle...
CNU continues to develop a structure for regional chapters. A handbook for organizing a chapter will be available at CNU XI. Regional chapters will be able to tap into the energy of local members by forming their own nonprofit organizations that...
The New Urbanism differs in several ways from the traditional settlement models from which it springs. No other single factor is as important in forcing variations from traditional practice as the necessity to deal with cars in quantity; and no...
Research shows mixed-use main streets often outperform conventional properties in their local markets. The strength of new urban town centers goes well beyond competitive retail sales — it also includes unexpectedly high demand for live/work...
Randal O’Toole and others in the Preserving the American Dream conference
treated “smart growth” and “New Urbanism” as if both terms have the same meaning. Most practitioners, however, make a distinction between the two. At the risk of...
The Rev. Eric O. Jacobsen thinks interest in New Urbanism among committed Christians, and especially among Christian intellectuals, is about to take off. Since completing a draft of Sidewalks in the Kingdom early last year, “there have been two...
With registration open for the eleventh Congress, The Evolving City: From Ideals to Reality, CNU staff are working overtime to pack this year’s event with new perspectives and to make use of member expertise. The Congress promises to keep the...
Just 30 minutes outside of Nashville, the tiny village of Pleasant View was experiencing growing pains. Wanting to encourage expansion while effectively managing growth, it has become an example of expediting new urban projects through...
Though built on a slag heap 25 stories high, houses in a 710- unit new urban development called Summerset at Frick Park are selling well to people in Pittsburgh. Detached dwellings fetch $200,000 to $700,000 on the 238-acre hill where 20 million...
Planners and public officials promoting New Urbanism sometimes struggle with defining it. DeKalb County, Georgia, commissioners recently passed a 90-day moratorium on applications for approval of traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs), a new...
In February, CNU’s board of directors appointed three new members. Longtime members Todd Zimmerman and Stephanie Bothwell join the board, offering expertise in market research and urban design as well as organizational expertise. They also appointed...
Torti Gallas and Partners/CHK, of Silver Spring, MD, is working with the military’s housing privatization program and creating award-winning TNDs such as the Naval Training Center in San Diego, CA.
Named the 2002 “Niche Market Project of the Year...