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 Atlanta Regional Commission has allocated $252 million of mainly federal funds toward establishment of a transit line and a linear park on existing railroad rights-of-way that ring Atlanta’s downtown, Midtown, and intown neighborhoods. The...
Leaders in San Jose, California, have begun what could be a momentous overhaul of development policies governing more than a third of the land in the 926,000-population city. The city’s plans could add 70,000 units of housing and increase the city’s...
Two CNU Task Forces have new co-chairs. Lucy Rowland will co-chair the Educators Task Force, and Kevin Hardman will co-chair the Downtown/Infill Task Force. Head of science collections and research facilities at the University of Georgia Libraries,...
A Leon Krier tower, depicted below, is planned to stand at the center of Seaside, Florida. Significant parts of the town center are being redesigned by architect Daniel Parolek of Opticos Design. Look for an article in the March issue of New Urban...
Steve Oubre of Architects Southwest reports that a half dozen traditional neighborhood developments have recently been approved and/or begun construction in Louisiana. Watch for more coverage of these projects, designed by Oubre, based in Lafayette...
MLP Investments and Christner Inc. architects won an AIA Merit Award in urban design for their Hanley Station project in St. Louis, Missouri. The 8-acre, transit-oriented development with 150 apartments and 55,000 square feet of retail will begin...
Cleveland and its suburbs are getting a slew of projects that range from retail “lifestyle centers” — generally set apart from their surroundings and lacking housing — to mixed-use new urban developments. The latest project, unveiled in December,...
Avisitor to Gateway Crossing in the West End of Hagerstown, Maryland, might not sense that he has encountered a “project” or “development.” Gateway Crossing appears more like, well, Hagerstown — a small city with streets lined by two-story, single...
“In 2003, 4,827 Americans (11.3 percent of all traffic fatalities) died while crossing the street, walking to school or work, going to a bus stop, or strolling to the grocery, among other daily activities,” the Surface Transportation Policy Project...
Publisher Diane Dorney has changed the name of The Town Paper to New Towns and has added critiques of new urban neighborhoods, written by Laurence Aurbach. Aurbach devised a rating system based on 11 factors: housing diversity, mixed uses,...
Gooding’s corner grocery store in Celebration, Florida, closed, as many residents feared, when a new, larger Gooding’s opened near the highway. However, a new market/bakery is scheduled to open in the same 5,000 sq. ft. space in January 2005,...
Opponents lost their bid to prevent a Wal-Mart Supercenter from being built as part of a HOPE VI public housing redevelopment project in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans (see July/August 2003 New Urban News). The Wal-Mart is now operating on...