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 Local Government Commission offers the Compact Development Compact Disc Toolkit (CD2), which provides tools for government officials, community leaders, planners, developers, and smart growth advocates. Included are a Powerpoint presentation on...
Metropolitan areas with more compact growth, a wide mix of land uses, plentiful transportation options — and which were mostly developed prior to the use of the automobile – have generally lower combined costs for housing and transportation,...
Toronto urban planner Ken Greenberg is advising the City of Boston on how to bring coherence to the 1.5-mile Rose Kennedy Greenway, which is being created where the “Big Dig” has submerged the Central Artery. Greenberg will focus not only on the...
According to a study by the US EPA, “Travel and Environmental Implications of School Siting,” students are more likely to walk or bike to their school if it’s nearby and if the environment is pedestrian-friendly. By increasing the number of students...
An eight-story building that opened over the last several months in Coral Gables, Florida, features a Publix grocery store on its ground floor and 159 apartments above. The Douglas Grand, as the building on Douglas Road is called, contains 22,000...
The planning commission of the City of Galveston, Texas, approved the long-awaited 125-acre traditional neighborhood extension of the city recently. Groundbreaking on the Beachtown project could take place in the spring of 2004. The project was...
A manual that tells public works departments how to design thoroughfares consistent with new urbanist principles is expected to be completed by January 15 by Andres Duany, Stephen A. Mouzon, and editor Daisy Kone. The manual will cover thoroughfares...
Those who attended the CNU annual conference in Washington, DC, last June noticed something very encouraging: Not only is the nation’s capital booming, it’s booming in neighborhoods that had been falling apart for decades. And some of the new...
Congress recently ordered the Federal Transit Administration to pay no more than 60 percent of the capital costs of new mass transit projects. The Bush administration’s proposed budget for the 2004 fiscal year would further reduce the federal match...
Terrabrook Properties recently sold 21 master planned communities to Newland Communities. One of those properties was Clarksburg Town Center, a traditional neighborhood development in Montgomery County, Maryland.
A study in Galway, Ireland, one of the fastest-growing places in Europe, shows that “residents living in walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods are more likely to know their neighbors, to participate politically, to trust others, and to be involved...
A booklet called “Ten Principles for Rebuilding Neighborhood Retail” was issued by the Urban Land Institute in December. The 23-page booklet is available in packets of 10 for $19.95 by calling ULI at (800) 321-5011 or by going online at www....