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.
Construction has begun on the 80-acre core of New Town, a 300-acre mixed-use, office, retail, and residential development in Williamsburg, Virginia. The town center, designed by RTKL and Cooper Robertson & Partners, will include 300-400 for-sale...
The Bay Area Council (BAC), a regional, business-sponsored public policy organization, has launched a trio of funds intended to support real estate development, local businesses, and reclamation of small brownfield sites in 46 low- and moderate-...
Asmall traditional neighborhood development (TND) in Lower Moreland, Pennsylvania, that faced stiff public opposition over a two year period, moved forward when supervisors unanimously approved an amendment to the township’s zoning. The vote allows...
University architecture schools need a new emphasis on contextual urbanism, vernacular and classical architecture, and a Modernism that supports the fabric of the community, according to participants at the Windsor Forum on Design Education, which...
Wake up call on the potential impact of sprawl on aquatic ecosystems forges an important link between environmentalism and smart growth.
Current development patterns, if continued for just two more decades, will cause irreversible damage to the...
Joe Barnes, recently general manager of I’On, and prior to that development manager and town architect at Celebration, has reestablished his consulting firm, Commonwealth Partnership. Barnes focuses on planning and implementation of traditional...
David Goldberg, an editorial writer at the Atlanta Journal Constitution and a prominent voice for New Urbanism and smart growth in Atlanta, has joined the national coalition Smart Growth America as national communications director.
Infill projects dominate as three design firms take home multiple awards.
Winners of the second annual Charter Awards were selected by a distinguished jury over the weekend of March 16. After spending days perusing more than 200 submissions from...
One of the largest Hope VI redevelopments, City West, is gearing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, near the downtown and neighborhoods affected by last year’s riots. The redevelopment of adjacent public housing projects, Lincoln Court and Laurel Homes, will...
Developer Earl Robertson has completed the first apartment building in the Lowell Neighborhood, an infill project in downtown Colorado Springs. The four-story building includes 14 units and is built next to a recently renovated, 108-year-old school...
The Revitalization Corp., chartered by the District of Columbia, has unveiled plans for a redevelopment of the southwest Potomac River waterfront into a mixed-use, pedestrian friendly neighborhood center. Plans call for apartments, shops and cafes,...
In San Diego, Mayor Dick Murphy’s City of Villages strategy is moving closer to becoming the framework for future growth in the city. The strategy’s goal is to channel growth into compact, walkable town centers and neighborhoods, and the mayor is...