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.
In response to Wisconsin’s new smart growth law, the City of South Milwaukee is developing a new comprehensive plan. The plan will address urban design, streetscapes, storefronts in the downtown, and economic development. The city hired HNTB...
Dates are set for CNU IX. Even as you nurse away the jet-lag from CNU 2000, it’s time to put in your Priceline bids, book a hotel room, and reserve a space flight at the new Rose Center for Earth and Space. CNU IX is in New York City, and we expect...
The Newpoint Corners Store opened for business in early April in Newpoint, a TND near Beaufort, South Carolina. The 1,100-square-foot store carries everything from soap to specialty foods, from wine to greeting cards and penny candy. Proprietor...
A potentially ground breaking traffic calming project has hit a road block with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). The project would bring calming measures to a 20-mile stretch of Rural Route 50 which runs through three historic...
With startup funding from the Siemens Corporation, the Notre Dame School of Architecture established the South Bend Urban Center. The purpose is to use the urban design expertise of faculty and students to work with public officials and developers...
Valencia Town Center Drive is the first main street in California to be built from the ground up in recent decades. The half-mile street is an extension of Valencia Town Center, a regional shopping mall in the master-planned community Valencia, 30...
Addison Circle, a high-density new urbanist development in Addison, Texas, continues to be highly successful. Developer Post Properties announced the complete lease up of phase 2 in April, 2000. Addison Circle now includes 1,070 apartments, 111,000...
A traditional neighborhood development (TND) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, provides evidence that a walkable community can be popular and have a measurable impact on school traffic.
Mary Scroggs Elementary School in Southern Village has 450...
Ordinance, Austin, Texas
Optional, adopted 1997.
Applies to sites from 40 to 250 acres.
TND must have neighborhood center area (NCA) and at least one mixed residential area (MRA).
Allocates minimum and maximum land use area percentages...
Market Place has pedestrian-oriented design elements, but critics argue that it will displace local merchants and diminish local character.
Is Market Place going to create a new neighborhood or destroy one? Is it an example of forward thinking...
Public transportation ridership has risen to a level not seen since 1960. New statistics from the American Public Transportation Association reveal that Americans took 9 billion trips on mass transit in 1999, up from a low of 6.5 billion trips in...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is launching Design Advisor, a web-based tool for community development organizations building affordable housing. The goal of the program is to improve design literacy and help community organizations...