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 second phase of 445 apartment units is nearing completion in Austin Ranch, located in The Colony, Texas, approximately 25 minutes north of downtown Dallas. Master planned by Calthorpe Associates, Austin Ranch is a medium-density (approximately 24...
The events of September 11, and the subsequent economic plunge of the airline industry, have revived arguments for a better nationwide passenger rail system. The $15-billion bailout of airlines, which were already losing money prior to the attacks,...
III. Parking/plaza techniques
Category: public open space.
Subcategory: plazas and squares.
There is a strong reflex for a designer simply to attach the label “parking lot” to an area and then to get on with the design of the building. In fact...
The Greater Minnesota Housing Fund has published “Building Better Neighborhoods,” a 92-page book that lays out many new urban design principles as tools for Minnesota towns to build affordable housing in mixed-income neighborhoods. The book,...
Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, pioneers of the New Urbanism, received the third annual Vincent Scully Prize at the National Building Museum December 16. The first two awards were given to architectural historian Scully and urban critic...
South Street Cerritos, a 76,000 sq. ft., high-end town center opened in December, 2001, in Cerritos, California. Designed as a main street by Perkowitz+Ruth Architects, the project connects to a 155,000 square foot Target which opened in 2000.
Peter Swift of Swift and Associates has released a research paper on “AASHTO and the Parisian Boulevard.” The paper examines the mandates of the AASHTO “Green Book” regarding location of arterials, physical design standards, and public transit, and...
A blighted Indianapolis neighborhood gets another chance with the help of federal funds and new urban design guidelines.
The fate of the Fall Creek neighborhood on Indianapolis’ near north side mirrors that of countless urban neighborhoods in the...
The city picks a design and development team for a $350-million, transit-oriented, walkable neighborhood that will fill oceanfront property on the Rockaways peninsula in Queens.
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development...
The 209-unit Mirasol apartments are under construction adjacent to downtown Celebration near Orlando, Florida. The units average 1,700 square feet and will rent from $900 to $1,900. The project increases the density downtown, and raises the number...
One of the nation’s largest new urban brownfield projects, Mission Bay in San Francisco, is facing difficulties with the recession and collapse of the office market in the Bay area, according to the San Francisco Examiner. Catellus Corp. has stopped...
In Provo, Utah, The Village at Riverwoods was recognized with the Envision Utah Governor’s Quality Growth Award for Grand Achievement in Planning and Implementation. The 145-unit development of townhomes, flats, and live/work lofts will be completed...