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.
A plan for 60 square miles around Research Triangle Park (RTP) in North Carolina calls for mixed-use, transit-oriented towns and neighborhoods “resembling downtown Chapel Hill,” according to a report in the Raleigh News & Observer. RTP has 90,...
The City of Lenexa, Kansas, plans to acquire a $9-million parcel in the near future to develop a 62-acre downtown with 1,700 residential units, 1 million square feet of office, and 300,000 square feet of stores and restaurants. The Haile Group,...
Few new urban communities have done better than Fairview Village in terms of incorporating civic uses. The 137-acre project in Fairview, Oregon, includes an elementary school, post office, and city hall. The latter two are full-fledged, functioning...
John Williams, founder of Atlanta-based Post Properties, has stepped down as chief executive after more than three decades. Williams, who will continue to chair Post’s board of directors, will be succeeded by company president David Stockert on July...
State, city, parish, and a local charitable foundation work together to revitalize the downtown of Louisiana’s capital using principles of the New Urbanism. Four years after the charrette, nearly 80 percent of the team’s recommendations have been...
Denser, more urban developments tend to generate fewer air and water pollutants and use less energy and resources on a per capita basis, according to research by Eliot Allen of Criterion Planners and Engineers. Allen has created an “Environmental...
he Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District has begun to encourage infill development by lowering sewer hook-up fees for development in established urban areas and raising the fees for greenfield subdivisions. The connection fee for a new...
CNU founder Dan Solomon has joined Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT), a national planning and design firm recognized for its interdisciplinary approach. Solomon’s architecture and urban design firm will retain its name, Solomon ETC, yet become part...
A new resource on energy efficient building practices is available from the Rocky Mountain Institute. The CD-ROM Green Developments 2.0 contains more than 200 case studies of green buildings and projects from around the world. Contact: Ben Shepherd...
Philip von Platen, senior editor at New Urban News, is returning to his native Denmark and other endeavors. Von Platen covered New Urbanism at this publication for nearly three years.
The tenth Congress for the New Urbanism is meeting in Miami Beach, and
for good reason. Florida is home to an astounding number and quality of new urbanist projects. Cataloging these projects is a new book, A Guidebook to New Urbanism in Florida,...
Four years ago, the San Diego City Council adopted a reuse plan for the San Diego Naval Training Center, to transform the site into an “urban village,” now called Liberty Station. The first residential neighborhood in the redevelopment area, The...