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.
Ray Gindroz of Urban Design Associates is helping to obtain affordable vernacular prototypes from local architects, to be used by Habitat for Humanity in the rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. Gindroz’s effort is supported by the Institute of...
Vancouver, British Columbia, has decided to convert two lanes of one of its busiest commuter bridges to bike lanes. Council voted to switch two of the six lanes of the Burrard Street Bridge as a one-year experiment, beginning in April 2006. “I...
A tool that could help new urban projects by generating more accurate estimates of their impact on traffic and air quality has been developed for the California Air Resources Board. Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates in San Francisco produced an “...
San Francisco’s newest multiway boulevard will be completed by mid-September, further aiding the revival of what had been a bedraggled portion of the Hayes Valley neighborhood southwest of downtown. The four-block thoroughfare, known as Octavia...
Baltimore-based Design Collective Inc. has been chosen to lead a charrette that will develop a plan for transforming the Columbia Town Center, the commercial heart of the 100,000-population Maryland “New Town.” In a fast-paced selection process, the...
Oshara Village in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, was approved in June, and what a difference a dozen years makes in terms of permitting, according developer Alan Hoffman. Aldea, the county’s first traditional neighborhood development (TND), was...
The developer of Clarksburg Town Center, a 1,300-unit project being built in Montgomery County, Maryland, is feeling the sting of a resident backlash. Homeowners who, based on marketing literature, had expected the development to include a...
Congress in late July passed a six-year $286 billion transportation bill that includes approximately $52 billion for mass transit and $612 million for the Safe Routes to School program. Under the school program, state transportation departments will...
The Congress for the New Urbanism will continue to benefit from the oversight and guidance of its founders while welcoming four talented new members to its board, based on actions taken at the CNU board of director’s June meeting in Pasadena.
At...
Combining the strengths of several disciplines, the University of Michigan this year will offer a new certificate program in real estate development that focuses on building well-designed, sustainable, communities. Christopher Leinberger, a...
The Urban Land Institute is going nationwide with a program that should make it easier for smart growth and new urban projects to win the governmental approvals they need.
Within the past three years, ULI has taken the lead in forming two regional...
Mission Meridian Village, a collection of 67 varied housing units along the Gold Line light-rail tracks in South Pasadena, California, opened in June and is expected to be completed and fully occupied by September.