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 alley offset, described in the last Technical Page, is a way of modifying alignment of alleys from one block to the next. It is used where baroque excess in vehicle size and speed would otherwise result in corrosion of the alley system’s...
Traditional Neighborhood Development Partners of Durham, North Carolina, founded by new urbanist Robert Chapman, has four projects in planning and entitlement. Two of the projects are associated with university campuses, an area that Chapman has...
Building demolition began in February for the redevelopment of a World War II Airplane factory in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, into a mixed-use, transit-oriented neighborhood. Wesmont Station, planned by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, includes 737...
A growing number of cities are introducing illustrated zoning guides that ordinary citizens can readily
Laurie Volk of Zimmerman/Volk Associates in Clinton, New Jersey, has joined the board of directors of the Remaking Cities Institute.
Landscape architect Douglas Duany went to Kurdish Iraq in March to work with town planner and engineer Peter Swift, who is working with an American firm, Mid Atlantic Enterprises, that is carrying out development projects.
Todd Litman, executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute in British Columbia, wrote a new book from Planners Press, Parking Management Best Practices. The 312-page, $69.95 paperback from the American Planning Association tells how...
Mashpee Commons on Cape Cod is in the permitting phase for 382 new residences — a mix of detached houses, townhouses, apartments, and live-works. Developers Buff Chace and Douglas Storrs are obtaining permits under a Massachusetts law known
Cincinnati and Baltimore have pulled down “skywalks” that were once seen as a great way to connect downtown buildings. “Cincinnati City Architect Michael Moore said the difference is striking around Fountain Square since 2 of the city’s original 22...
The US Environmental Protection Agency has released four new smart growth publications: “Protecting Water Resources with Higher-Density Development,” “Using Smart Growth Techniques as Stormwater Best Management Practices,” “Growing Toward More...
Several South Mississippi communities that took the brunt of Hurricane Katrina are considering changing their development codes and adopting other recommendations from last October’s Mississippi Renewal Forum.
Combining apartments, retail space, for-sale townhomes, and a public plaza, West River Commons, which opened in 2004, replaced blighted uses on a polluted Minneapolis site. The project provides the Twin Cities with an example of appropriate infill...