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...
Firm wants to finance apartments near town centers. Kensington Marquette Partners of Chicago, a firm that manages assets from several state teachers’ pension funds, is seeking to invest in apartments in traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs...
Colorado’s Republican Governor Bill Owens has unveiled a proposal to curb growth, “Smart Growth: Colorado’s future.” The plan’s four main objectives are to preserve open space by giving tax credits to landowners who preserve wildlife habitat; to...
Pasadena, California, is the latest city to join the movement to replace dying shopping malls with mixed-use development. Plaza Pasadena, an enclosed mall built in the 1970s, covers a three- block area in the heart of downtown and obliterates one...
Registrations are flowing in for CNU 2000: The Politics of Place. We recommend you register early: Hotels are in hot demand, and inexpensive early registration for the conference ends May 15. If you haven't received your conference brochure, please...
Riverside, a traditional neighborhood development (TND) in Atlanta, Georgia, was entirely leased one and one half years after the project opened. Developed by Post Properties and designed by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, Riverside consists of...
I’On I’On is a 243-acre, 759-unit TND in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Vince Graham and his father, Tom Graham, are codevelopers. Geoff Graham, Vince’s brother, is the project manager. The master plan is by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ...