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.
Town commissioners in St. Michaels, Maryland, have turned down a second proposal from developers Gary Modjeska and George Valanos of The Midland Companies. The developers originally proposed Miles Point, a 375-unit TND, for the 89-acre site on the...
The National Association of Realtors, 700,000 strong, has created a smart growth initiative. The Washington, D.C., based group hired Joe Molinaro, longtime editor of the National Association of Home Builders’ Land Development magazine, to lead the...
The American Planning Association (APA) does not officially endorse the New Urbanism, but its recent awards have lauded new urbanist plans. Two examples this year are the Growing Smart award, which went to Palm Beach County, Florida, and the...
More than 25 projects are under construction or in planning across Canada. The following list briefly tracks progress in some of the most prominent communities.
Lakeside
Located in Ajax, Ontario, designed by the Planning Partnership, and...
A CNU task force initiative confronts fire officials’ aversion to narrow streets.
The dilemma is one familiar to most new urbanist designers and developers.
CNU 2000 in Portland, Oregon, draws a record crowd of 1,400.
Developers, public officials, representatives from nonprofit community development corporations and municipal planners came to Portland in large numbers and made the eighth annual...
In Portland, Oregon, construction is well underway on a new streetcar line connecting neighborhoods to downtown. The approximately five miles of tracks in the first phase are laid on streets 36 feet wide curb to curb, with parking on both sides....
For a conservative spin on the smart growth debate, turn to A Guide to Smart Growth: Shattering Myths, Providing Solutions, published by the Heritage Foundation. The book explores how the growing concerns about urban sprawl among voters can be...
Two recent appointments have placed advocates of the New Urbanism in prominent planning jobs. Harriet Tregoning, director of urban and economic development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been picked by Maryland Governor Parris...
A 700-acre new urbanist town center plan for the City of Wildwood, Missouri, was approved, and now has the backing of the majority of residents, according to city planner Joe Vujnich. Zoning has not been approved to support the plan. However, given...
In the first test of its regional outreach program, CNU lends technical expertise and builds consensus on recharging an urban neighborhood.
In late May, CNU's Regional Partnerships program kicked
off with a three-day workshop developing a...
Location Efficient Mortgages (LEM) are now an option for prospective home buyers in Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. LEMs are primarily targeted at low- to middle-income households in dense, urban areas where public transit is...