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.
1) Mix land uses.
2) Take advantage of compact building design.
3) Create housing opportunities and choices for a range of household types, family sizes and incomes.
4) Create walkable neighborhoods.
5) Foster distinctive, attractive communities...
Albuquerque overhauled its downtown development requirements about two years ago, and the simplicity of the new system has helped set off what is, by the standards of a previously somnolent downtown, a huge building boom.
Moule & Polyzoides...
A study in metropolitan Portland provides a largely but not wholly encouraging answer to the question of whether new urban design gets suburbanites out of their cars.
Sociologist Bruce Podobnik has found that residents of the new urban...
Wal-Mart, the king of discount superstores on suburban commercial strips, has apparently discovered a new market — city dwellers. Wal-Mart recently opened a store in a mixed-use, urban location in Long Beach, California, without the usual sea of...
Denver’s City Council has adopted “Blueprint Denver,” a plan that aims to integrate the city’s land uses and transportation for the first time. “Blueprint Denver suggests that transportation and land-use improvements be joined at the hip, and that...
A state law — even one without teeth — can exert a strong influence on municipal planners. Wisconsin’s law mandating that every municipality above 12,500 population adopt a traditional neighborhood development (TND) code has caused a unique outcome...
Plans for New Daleville, a 90-acre Traditional Neighborhood Development with 125 houses and 12,500 square feet of retail space, have won approval from officials in Londonderry Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The developer, Arcadia Land...
River Ranch in Lafayette, Louisiana, is becoming an influential model of new urban community-building. More than 100 developers have visited the project, under development by Robert Daigle and designed by architect Steve Oubre, according to the...
A sampling of recently published articles reveals the geographic breadth and growing popularity of transit-oriented development (TOD). “Transit villages” are planned for Caltrain stations in San Carlos, Redwood City, San Bruno, Daly City, and South...
Transit-oriented development (TOD) captured attention in the US Environmental Protection Agency ‘s first annual National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement, which were presented November 18. Two of the four recipients — Arlington County, Virginia,...
David Fleeman, a partner in development of Haile Plantation in Gainesville, Florida, died November 8 in Miami. He was 88. Fleeman was already semi-retired from a successful career as a homebuilder in South Florida and was serving as chairman of the...
This survey identifies site-specific projects — either in planning, in construction, or completed — that are at least 15 acres and are based on principles of New Urbanism. The projects are mixed-use, laid out with an interconnected network of...