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 Inner City Christian Federation (ICCF), a nonprofit development company that has built affordable housing in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for nearly 30 years, recently joined with new urbanist professionals in a charrette that generated a master plan...
The Southern California Association of Governments has selected a team headed by John Fregonese and Peter Calthorpe to lead a “ Growth Visioning” project, one of the largest such exercises undertaken to date. The region has a population exceeding 15...
The Brookings Institution has released “The Link Between Growth Management and Housing Affordability: The Academic Evidence,” which concludes that housing prices are primarily determined by the strength of local demand for housing. The report...
As American-style sprawl begins to take root, two German academics argue that the New Urbanism is the missing link in the strategies to preserve and renew cities. In Berlin, an infill project showcases the principles in action.
The German...
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...
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...
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-...