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 Center for Livable Communities in Sacramento, California, has a Compact Development Slide Presentation available for rent at $15 or for sale at $50. Contact: (916) 448-1198.
An excellent overview of the New Urbanism trend appeared in the fall 1999 issue of Planning Commissioners Journal, a quarterly newsletter. The article was written by Philip Langdon, a writer and associate editor of the American Enterprise. Langdon...
Seven cities along U.S. Route 1 in southern Florida have pooled their resources to revitalize a 15-mile section of the ailing coastal highway. The cities, Riviera Beach, Lake Park, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Juno Beach, Jupiter, and...
A new urbanist town was planned in Ada, Michigan, to be built on a 536-acre farm and former gravel quarry. Most of the 800 units are planned to be built in the former quarry, with the 300-acre farm remaining mostly open space. The project, designed...
Beat Kahli, the developer of Avalon Park, a 1,860-acre TND east of Orlando, Florida, is taking an unusual approach to expanding the project’s fledgling town center. In October, 1999, Kahli announced that he was willing to invest in entrepreneurs who...
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced $571 million in Hope VI program grants to redevelop public housing in 21 cities. A number of these projects will use new urbanist design to create new, mixed-income neighborhoods...
Charter of the New Urbanism: Region/Neighborhood, District, and Corridor/Block, Street, and Building
By the Congress for the New Urbanism McGraw Hill, New York, 1999. Large paperback, 194 pp., $49.95. Contact: 415-495-2255. Every new urbanist should have a copy of the Charter book. Critics should have a copy, too, so that they really know...
According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, approximately 43,000 shopping centers and 1,800 enclosed malls operate in the U.S. Finding prognostications about how many of these are in trouble is not difficult. Ten years ago American...
Elements of walkable neighborhoods are marketing pluses, with the exception of higher density.
Consumers pick new urbanist (NU) community design characteristics over conventional suburban development (CSD) in most categories, according to...
Walgreen Co. has signed an agreement with the City of Chicago to follow new urban design guidelines in the construction of 35 Walgreens drugstores in the city during the next two years. The guidelines are designed to prevent construction of suburban...
Stephen Roulac, a real estate consultant, economist, and “futurist” frequently covers the New Urbanism on his radio show, Stephen Roulac Property Conversation. The show is broadcast every Tuesday at 12 noon on WALE AM 990, serving 3.5 million...
Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc. and PricewaterhouseCoopers recently published Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2000, which continues to promote the “24-hour cities” concept as the key to profitable long-term real estate investments. The annual...