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 advantages of the cul-de-sac over the through street are that they are quieter and safer for children; they provide the potential for more neighborly interaction; there is a greater sense of privacy; residents have a greater ability to...
With its Smart Growth Matrix (see October/November 2000) and other incentive programs, Austin, Texas, has provided a model for encouraging new urbanist and smart growth projects. In an article in the Institute of Transportation Engineers Journal,...
Las Colinas, a well-known edge city outside of Dallas, recently hired new urbanist planner Andres Duany to design approximately 600 acres on the northeast end of the city. The site, stretching from the city’s east side to the LBJ Freeway, is one of...
The City Council in Redwood City, California, has approved a plan for revitalizing its downtown. The design by Field Paoli Architects of San Francisco proposes two new structures, covering two city blocks, that will house 80,000 square feet of...
Cooperation and education are the keys to building human-scale streets and ensuring public safety.
Over the last decade, many designers, engineers, developers, local officials, emergency response personnel, and neighborhood residents have found...
The DPZ-designed units in Atlanta, built by Beazer Homes, demonstrate the versatile nature of the flex house. Like nearly all flex houses, they do not have raised foundations, so the first floor is at grade. This is vital for commercial units facing...
Homebuilders are introduced to an idea which is becoming increasingly popular with new urbanists.
Brad Shapiro, an architect with Looney Ricks Kiss of Memphis for the past 12 years, has formed his own firm, Shapiro & Company Architects also based in Memphis. The firm’s emphasis will be on TND architecture. Shapiro’s work includes designs for...
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has chosen CNU to run an award program, “The New Face of America's Public Housing.” It will recognize HOPE VI projects that best demonstrate innovation and leadership in the transformation of...
For the first time, new urbanist principles may be applied to the redevelopment of housing in an active military base. The plan is to convert 1950s and 1960s style housing in Fort Lewis in Washington State to a compact, mixed-use neighborhood with...
Consumer surveys in seven cities find that around 30 percent of respondents would seriously consider a new urbanist housing product. Everyone involved in building the New Urbanism (NU) — designers, developers, and financial backers — would like...
Creating the Not So Big House, architect Sarah Susanka’s sequel to her 1998 best seller The Not So Big House, includes a profile of a home in Habersham, a TND in Beaufort, South Carolina. Designer Eric Moser’s floor plan breaks the traditional...