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.
Leading architects discussed challenges to urbanism in Europe, and their solution, at the EuroCouncil’s inaugural meeting in Belgium.
“It’s time to move forward quickly to
change the world!” was Andres Duany’s proclamation at the April...
CNU member Linda Matthew is leading an effort to assemble very detailed information about new urbanist projects under construction. This database will supplement New Urban News’ annual overview of projects. Details will be available at CNU.org. If...
NewUrbanism.org has just opened its MarketPlace to serve the growing market demand for new urban practitioners. The MarketPlace will include listings of design firms, town planners, architects, developers, transportation planning firms, marketing...
Grandview, a six square-mile unincorporated area just east of Durango, CO, will become a new urban community if it is not stopped by citizen opposition to development. Jeff Speck of Duany Plater-Zyberk and Co. was hired by the Tierra Group, LLC, the...
A total of $494 million was awarded in what may be the second-to-last round of HOPE VI funding. New urbanists participated in the design of more than half of the 28 projects announced in March, 2003, allocated in the 2002 budget.
The program is...
Building envelope standards, general guiding principles:
1. Buildings are aligned and close to the street.
2. The street is a coherent space, with consistent building forms on both sides of the street.
3. Buildings oversee the street (and square...
Kalamazoo, MI, is the latest city looking to employ New Urbanism to reinvigorate its riverfront.
The city received a $2.8 million Clean Michigan Initiative Riverfront Redevelopment Grant from the state to renew the area.
A preliminary plan,...
Once a small city unto itself — with its own phone system, water works, general store and infirmary — the 41.5-acre site in Columbus, Ohio, upon which the Jeffrey Mining Company once stood is now being transformed into Jeffrey Place. Wedged between...
As the Southern Village TND in Chapel Hill, NC, approaches buildout, developer Bryan Properties is gearing up for a new pedestrian-oriented project outside neighboring Durham. Property manager Jim Earnhardt says Bryan has contracted to purchase...
CNU continues to develop a structure for regional chapters. A handbook for organizing a chapter will be available at CNU XI. Regional chapters will be able to tap into the energy of local members by forming their own nonprofit organizations that...
The New Urbanism differs in several ways from the traditional settlement models from which it springs. No other single factor is as important in forcing variations from traditional practice as the necessity to deal with cars in quantity; and no...
Research shows mixed-use main streets often outperform conventional properties in their local markets. The strength of new urban town centers goes well beyond competitive retail sales — it also includes unexpectedly high demand for live/work...