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.
A growing number of governors and state legislatures introduce bills to update planning statutes and promote smart growth principles.
By sheer volume alone, the state-level activity on planning reform is impressive. Between 1999 and 2001, lawmakers...
International Making Cities Livable is hosting its annual conference in Alpbach & Salzburg, Austria, on September 15-19. Conference topics include: New Urban Neighborhoods, Community Participation in Planning & Design, and more. To submit...
The City of Toronto has hired Robert Freedman as its new Director of Urban Design. Prior to his appointment, Freedman was a project manager at Urban Design Associates in Pittsburgh.
Homebuilders in Palm Beach County, Florida, are not thrilled at the prospect of proposed zoning calling for traditional neighborhood design. The Florida county won an award from the American Planning Association in 2001 for its Managed Growth Tier...
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...
The Project for Public Spaces has reprinted the classic 1980 study of New York City’s plazas, “The Social Life of Small Urban Places” by William H. Whyte. The book and companion video are available for $35 and $25 respectively. Contact: (212) 620-...
It’s rare and perhaps significant that an architecture critic reviews something as utilitarian as a new supermarket, as Blair Kamin did recently in the Chicago Tribune. The reason: in place of another conventional big box, the new two-story Jewel-...
The City of Pittsburgh has unveiled a smaller plan to revitalize the downtown shopping district, known as Fifth and Forbes. The current $363 million plan includes a hotel, offices, retail stores, and 580 apartments. The plan maintains an urban...
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...