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.
Document of core principles may expand to cover New Urbanism’s relationship to the environment and the Transect
The Charter of the New Urbanism is CNU’s proudest single achievement. Ratified at CNU IV in Charleston in 1996, the charter exposes...
Chicago architect Philip Bess is the new director of the graduate program in architecture at the University of Notre Dame. He hopes to introduce the craft of classical architecture and the form and politics of traditional urbanism into the school’s...
Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. proposed in early February that the state’s Office of Smart Growth be abolished. Its sprawl-fighting functions would be carried on by the Department of Planning. Chuck Gates in the Department of Planning said five...
New urbanist developer Robert Chapman is preparing to break ground on Winmore, 129-acre traditional neighborhood development (TND) near the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. A neighbor sued to stop the project, claiming it would damage...
A municipally sponsored development in downtown Princeton, New Jersey, is converting two borough-owned parking lots into a $27 million mixed-use project that includes a new outdoor plaza next to Princeton’s new public library.
Edited by John Morris Dixon; designed by Harish K. Patel Visual Reference Publications, Urban Land Institute, 2004, 328 pp., $59.99. The introduction and preface to Urban Spaces cover many of the talking points that are familiar to new...
The cranky path of a 2,500-year-old canal is the route that architect Bill Dennis has chosen for “Canal Walk,” the narrow main neighborhood street to be built in a Tucson development called Rio Nuevo. “The remains of the canal were found about six...
CNU is planning “a series of think tanks for the next six months” on housing issues, says board member Ray Gindroz, who was involved in formulating the federal HOPE VI program. “I think we need six months to figure out the answer to the question” of...
What can philanthropic foundations best do to revitalize troubled neighborhoods? Living Cities, a national organization based in Harlem, has begun seeking answers to that question. Four foundations involved in Living Cities have launched Pilot...
Plans are progressing for a 110-mile Texas commuter rail line running from San Antonio to Georgetown, 30 miles north of Austin. The Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Rail District selected PBS&J and its team of eight subconsultants to provide...
The Smart Growth Network has published Getting to Smart Growth II: 100 More Policies for Implementation. As the name implies, this is the second volume, and offers useful advice and quality illustrations on public policy for planners and elected...
Pulte Homes, the nation’s largest residential builder, paid $8.57 million in early January to purchase approximately 480 acres in Civano, a development on the southeast fringe of Tucson that combines principles of New Urbanism and environmental...