Farms and gardens would be key to a self-sustaining 2,000-home development envisioned in British Columbia.

An eight-day charrette in May, led by Andres Duany, laid out an innovative, agriculturally-oriented path that new urbanists could start using in communities that are worried about losing farm land.
Duany and other new urbanists collaborated with Michael Ableman, an organic farmer and author, to show how a 538-acre tract near Vancouver, British Columbia, could accommodate nearly 2,000 housing units and at the same time foster a wide range of food-producing activities.

By John Silber
The Quantuck Lane Press, W.W. Norton, 98 pages, $27.50 hardcover

A savvy PR campaign, donations to local groups, and strategic choices of store locations helped the retailer outgun its opponents in the nation's capital.