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 idea of calling prefab new urbanist-designed dwellings in Louisiana “Gulf Coast Cottages” has been put to rest no more than two months after it was first raised. Andres Duany now says “Katrina” is the brand that will be used for all the cottages...
The City of Montgomery, Alabama, adopted the SmartCode by a unanimous vote of council in January. According to Chad Emerson of Faulkner University in Montgomery, and an expert on the SmartCode, Montgomery is now the second largest municipality in...
Some municipalities in hot climates, such as Miami, are replacing that symbol of tropical paradise — the palm tree — with other, leafier trees. The objective is to provide a tree canopy that will shade the sidewalks and make pedestrians more...
Robert Sitkowski has moved from Chicago back to the Robinson & Cole law firm in Hartford, where he is focusing on land-use law for developers, land owners, municipalities, and advocacy groups and on legal aspects of Smart Growth and New Urbanism.
Smart Growth America has released Version 2 of Smart Growth Shareware, which contains information on 120 downloadable publications and fact sheets; website links to more than 100 other resources; and PowerPoint presentations and materials from local...
What is probably the biggest demonstration of alternative energy in new development projects in the US was made possible through $2 billion in tax free “green bond” financing for four projects — three of them examples of New Urbanism. About half of...
St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, which had 67,000 residents before Hurricane Katrina damaged most of the homes in its jurisdiction, may pull back from the most flood-prone areas, such as those along the 40-Arpent Canal, where a surge of water caused...
New Town at St. Charles, Missouri, is the top-selling development out of 17,280 developments in a region that includes all or part of 16 states, according to a survey by MarketGraphics, a market research firm based in Brentwood, Tennessee.
New Town...
By John M. DeGroveLincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2005, 360 pp., paperback $30.
Affluent Americans are increasingly buying or renting second homes in urban centers. “The 2000 Census indicated that the number of apartments in Manhattan used as second homes had increased 141 percent to 21,640 over the previous decade, and the...
The City of Toronto won a significant legal battle in March when the Ontario Municipal Board upheld the city’s right to limit drive-through facilities. The Board ruled that the city was justified in refusing to let Canadian Tire Corporation include...
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has become the first governor to veto legislation curtailing eminent domain. Since the US Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. New London last June, more than 40 states have passed or considered legislation to cut...