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.
Sprawl Watch’s recent report, “Creating a Healthy Environment: the Impact of the Built Environment on Public Health,” cites primary connections between sprawl and health as found by doctors and researchers from the CDC. Contact: allison@sprawlwatch....
“Smart Growth: The Alternative to Suburban Sprawl,” a 23-minute video by William B. Morton, begins by describing the loss of quality of life and environmental degradation caused by suburban sprawl, contrasts current development patterns with those...
The first major round of US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Hope VI grants under the Bush Administration, totaling nearly $500 million, focuses on principles of the New Urbanism. Begun in 1993, the Hope VI program has...
The number of allies grow, but the principles remain the same. The support for the New Urbanism and smart growth gets wider all the time. To the list that includes many environmental groups, governors, mayors, planners, transit advocates, and...
Kendall, Florida, has a new urbanist master plan for a new downtown (see January/February 2000 issue) and an ordinance to turn the plan into reality. But the fate of Dadeland Mall, the thriving enclosed mall which lies at the heart of the Downtown...
In the mountainous West, where land is plentiful and people scarce, the New Urbanism has found little application to date. In Idaho, however, the Village at Hidden Springs in Ada County outside Boise is the first attempt at building a walkable town...
The third phase of Heritage at Freemason Harbour, an infill development in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, was recently completed. The project now has 184 apartments and a one-block main street, which includes a 3,000 square foot grocery store....
Miramar, Florida, is planning a $130 million, 54-acre town center designed by Torti Gallas & Partners/CHK. The project includes a new city hall, cultural arts center, and library, in addition to 225 apartments, 290,000 square feet of office...
A huge opportunity for transportation reform will present itself in the next decade as many current planners and engineers in the field prepare for retirement, according to a recent paper by the Funders Network for Smart Growth and Livable...
For the past year, the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) has been attracting attention for producing evidence that greyfield malls can become walkable neighborhoods. New research, now available in CNU’s report Greyfields No More, shows that many...
Ground has broken at Marsh Gardens, a 14-acre infill project in Beaufort, South Carolina. With vernacular architecture and an urban form, Marsh Gardens includes a 120-room hotel, 190,000 square feet of flex space, and 24 townhomes. Developer 303...
Atlanta-based Post Properties has announced the completion of the urban infill development Post Roosevelt Square in Phoenix, Arizona. The mixed-use community of 403 apartments is 90 percent leased. Post has also completed the first $65.4 million...