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.
Decades ago, alleys in eastern seaboard cities were inhabited mostly by the poor. Today, by contrast, they are becoming increasingly alluring to middle- and upper-income people, some of whom are willing to pay large sums for an alley home possessing...
Now that his Seaside, Florida, development is well established, Robert Davis is focusing much of his attention on two distinct parts of the world environment: the “urban room” and the “agricultural edge.” In 2002, Davis, Raymond Gindroz of Urban...
The City of Madison, Wisconsin, recently approved the Village of Autumn Lake, a 285-acre mixed-use project based largely on traditional neighborhood design. The project will be the fourth TND underway by Veridian Homes, the largest builder in the...
In an unusual plan to rid Britain’s skylines of their worst eyesores, George Ferguson, head of the Royal Institute of British Architects, has proposed financial and tax incentives for demolition of offensive buildings. “All you have to do is look...
A new firm, DPZ-Pacific, has been formed by former Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ) director Demetri Baches, and three former DPZ staffers: Mallory Baches, Ludwig Fontalvo-Abello, and Kamal Zaharin. The firm, a “DPZ affiliate,” Baches says,...
Supporters of traditional neighborhood design have long wished for an industry-approved manual that gives transportation engineers the tools – and the permission – to design major context-sensitive streets for urban settings. Now hope is on the way...
Suburbia was conceived in the desire for blandly pleasant places. It sometimes achieved this, particularly where maturing landscape obscured infantile architecture. But visual satisfaction upon arrival at fullness now often obscures an underlying...
If success has many fathers, then Southside in Greensboro, North Carolina, is well cared for. Locally, the 10-acre urban redevelopment is considered to be something of a marvel. Nationally, it won an American Planning Association Outstanding...
Hank Dittmar will resign as president and CEO of Reconnecting America at year’s end to become chief executive of the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment, which promotes traditional urban design and architecture in Britain. The Congress for...
Architect Tom Low is trying to rally support for an urban design center for the Charlotte region, modeled after Nashville’s Civic Design Center. The most critical design challenge for the region is influencing development taking place near the new...
After seven years of planning and nine months of site preparation, homes are slated to be under construction in Norton Commons in October. The 600-acre new town near Louisville, Kentucky, will eventually have 2,880 houses and 560,000 square feet or...
Dane County developed its model ordinance by researching codes approved in cities like Columbus, Ohio, and Austin, Texas, says county planner Steve Steinhoff. Elements of these codes were combined into an ordinance and refined by a multimunicipal...