• Keep the lanes open

    Many cities undervalue rear alleys and lanes. Some are allowing these public rights-of-way to revert to private ownership. This is a mistake, as the recent surge in ADU development demonstrates.
    Public Square recently published an article on the opportunities presented by alleys and rear lanes, and many reactions to that piece showed that prejudice against alleys persists among many public officials. The piece by Dillon Colbert described St. Louis, a US city with a wealth of alleys, and...Read more

  • A village starts with a street plan

    A town near me is looking to build a mixed-use waterfront village—a street plan could be the key to achieving that goal.
    A recent Substack piece, “ How to Build a Village ,” caught my attention because it features a site near where I live. The “village style” plan in Clay, Onondaga County, New York, was highlighted by planner, ex-mayor, and writer Bill Fulton ( The Future of Where , which I highly recommend). Clay is...Read more

  • Why did the chicken cross the stroad?

    Today, just for fun, I offer a slight twist on an age-old question. The question above was posed on an urbanist listserve, and this was my answer: Because chickens can't drive. Stroads are dangerous and unpleasant; no proverbial chicken would cross the stroad if it had a choice in the matter.Read more

  • Street plans are ‘the foundation of city planning’

    The history of master street plans, why they enable the richness and diversity of incremental development, and how they are being applied today—reported on CNU's On the Park Bench.
    The greatest plans of the New World were all street plans—Savannah, Washington DC, Manhattan, and Philadelphia. They had no codes for a long time, and yet they endure today as great cities. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., the great landscape architect, put it simply: "The street plan [is] the foundation...Read more