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 Media Store sponsored by World Idea Networks offers videos, books and slides on all aspects of traditional neighborhood development and projects nationwide. Contact: (202) 518-2800.
A split-rate property tax that assesses land at a higher rate than buildings can help to encourage infill development and fight sprawl, according to Rick Rybeck, a planner for the District of Columbia Department of Public Works. In a paper, Rybeck...
In Germantown, Tennessee — just east of Memphis — a custom plan book “was a major factor in accelerating sales” in a 22-acre, 90-lot neotraditional project called Rowan Oak, says architect Brad Shapiro of Looney Ricks Kiss (LRK) of Memphis....
The Seaside Prize will be awarded May 30 jointly to Peter Calthorpe, Elizabeth Moule, Stefanos Polyzoides and Daniel Solomon — all of whom are founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU). The prize is annually awarded by the Seaside...
After a slow first year and a better second year, Fairview Village in Fairview, Oregon, is hitting its stride. Home sales are up in the 88-acre traditional neighborhood development (TND): there were 20 in 1996 and more than 40 in 1997. Sixty home...
Well before the master planning of Civano or the conception of Coffee Creek, or even the term “New Urbanism” was coined, developer John Clark dreamed of building Haymount, an environmentally sensitive TND in Caroline County, Virginia. Eight years...
Editor’s note: this is the first of a two part series on how to keep costs down when building a new urbanist project. The first article covers home construction issues. The next will focus on density and infrastructure.
Most of the early,...
American Urban Typologies: Key West, Florida, by Miami architect Erick Valle, explains and dissects the building and street designs of one of America’s best-loved towns. The book is well-researched and beautifully illustrated. Contact: Correa Valle...
Work by John Holtzclaw, as reported in the July/August 1997 issue of New Urban News, demonstrated that vehicle miles traveled per household drops drastically in high-density urban areas. That work has become the basis for the location-efficient...
A real estate market poll sponsored by the Los Angeles Times shows a surprising level of preference for the types of amentities offered by new urbanist projects.
Rosemary Beach, a 105-acre traditional neighborhood development (TND) in Walton County, Florida, continues to rack up impressive sales. Out of 195 lots available so far, 145 have been sold. Lot sale prices have ranged from $70,000 to more than a...
The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts and How They Get You Through the Day By Ray Oldenburg Marlowe & Company, New York, 1989, 1997 Second Edition. Softcover, 296 pp...