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.
Canada has at least 24 traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs) underway, 15 of them under construction. Based on New Urban News’ research, Canada appears to be moving ahead with New Urbanism more quickly than any part of the U.S., with the...
Massachusetts
An executive order, “Planning for Growth,” signed in April 1996 directs state agencies to promote the reuse of existing infrastructure and downtown revitalization in permitting, funding and construction decisions. The program also...
Back when the federal and state governments were busy building freeways through cities, a neighborhood in Midtown Memphis was demolished to make way for Interstate 40. The highway was never completed through that part of town, and Memphis officials...
Volume II of the TND Series home plan books for traditional neighborhood developments is available directly from HomeStyles, at a price of $30 for a single copy or $50 for two, by calling (888) 505-1001. HomeStyles is publishing and coediting the...
At the Winter meeting of the Council of Task Force Chairs and the Board of Directors, the Board approved a merger of the Principles & Policies Task Force with the Case Studies Task Force. The new committee will be called the “Best Practices Task...
A recent letter to the Chapel Hill News, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, thanked Southern Village developer D.R. Bryan for his “ generosity and vision” in donating a piece of land for a church. “Southern Village will be a lovely development in...
Since its acquisition of Columbus Realty Trust, Post Properties is moving ahead rapidly with the design and construction of new urbanist planning projects. The publicly traded real estate investment trust now has two regional headquarters: Post East...
The town of Markham shows why Canada is way ahead of the U.S. when it comes to “smart growth,” i.e. compact, incremental development. While innovative programs in states like Maryland try to rein in leapfrog sprawl, Markham simply opens up a new...
A well-designed public realm has potential to boost
property values and tax revenues.
n suburbia, where the public realm serves automobiles rather than pedestri ans, protection of property values depends on strict separation of uses, landscape...
The latest subdivision regulations in Johnson City, Tennessee, allow streets of 24 feet curb to curb, according to Eric Thomas Iversen, the head of long range planning. Streets include an 18- inch gutter on both sides, so road pavement is actually...
The Visual Preference Survey (VPS), created by Nelessen & Associates of Princeton, New Jersey, is a powerful tool to find out what kind of development residents prefer. Shown images of sprawl and compact traditional development, a cross section...
A new forum for discussing New Urbanism and CNU, as well as posting announcements and messages for other members has now been launched on our web site (www.
cnu.org). Members can access this service by registering a password to enter the “members”...