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 recent Washington Post article reported on a “new crusade” for pedestrian safety. “It is a small but growing uprising against the excesses of the nation’s car culture,” reports the Post, which cites grass roots programs in a half dozen cities...
Tim Hernandez, who led Pulte Homes’ failed effort to build the TND Salamanca in West Kendall, Florida, has formed his own company, New Urban Communities, based in Delray Beach. The firm will focus on developing smaller infill projects in downtowns...
Belmont, North Carolina, was one of the first municipalities nationwide to have a traditional neighborhood development (TND) ordinance. Now it appears that the municipality may get its first TND. The $40 million project will convert a historic...
Zoning ordinances in Fort Collins, CO; Huntersville, NC; and Austin, TX; are case studies of approaches to changing municipal land use regulations.
In response to encroaching sprawl, a small number of municipal planners
and elected officials...
In Canada’s foremost laboratory for the New Urbanism, planners knit together many projects to create a ring of interconnected neighborhoods around the existing town.
Markham was among the first municipalities in North America to adopt a new...
Homebuilders: Americans want it that way.
In its new report, Sprawl Costs Us All: How Your Taxes Fuel Suburban Sprawl, the Sierra Club suggests that it is not just the environment that is hurt by current development practices; American taxpayers...
Mockingbird Station, a 10-acre transit-oriented development in Dallas, is under construction and scheduled to open in 2000. Designed by RTKL, the development includes 216 loft apartments, an eight screen movie theater, and more than 90 shops and...
HomeStyles.com, the company behind the TND Series and the website TNDhomes.com, has issued a call for house plans to architects and designers. HomeStyles.com seeks plans for simple, elegant starter homes with modest floor plans and live/work...
Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, has two major malls, 35 million square feet of office space (more than many large cities), and represents the apex of sprawl in the Washington, D.C., area. It would be hard to find a more pedestrian unfriendly place, but...
In response to Wisconsin’s new smart growth law, the City of South Milwaukee is developing a new comprehensive plan. The plan will address urban design, streetscapes, storefronts in the downtown, and economic development. The city hired HNTB...
Dates are set for CNU IX. Even as you nurse away the jet-lag from CNU 2000, it’s time to put in your Priceline bids, book a hotel room, and reserve a space flight at the new Rose Center for Earth and Space. CNU IX is in New York City, and we expect...
The Newpoint Corners Store opened for business in early April in Newpoint, a TND near Beaufort, South Carolina. The 1,100-square-foot store carries everything from soap to specialty foods, from wine to greeting cards and penny candy. Proprietor...