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.
Arterial streets, typically multilane thoroughfares designed to speed cars from one destination to another, are often hazardous to people on foot.
Urban Cincy reports on the Cincinnati Central Riverfront Plan, which in 15 years has transformed the city's waterfront and received the APA's National Planning Excellence Award for 2013. The plan was spearheaded by then-mayor (now vice mayor)...
A plan by Detroit Mayor Dave Bing to concentrate services and resources into compact urban centers and allow other parts of the city to depopulate has been on hold for more than two years, but the idea got a shot in the arm from a $150 million...
The federal government spends $450 billion a year for real estate loans and grants, largely toward single-family housing — and that's not even the total picture of how Uncle Sam influences the market. The report by Smart Growth America (SGA),...
Graeme Sharpe at Urban Cincy examines traditional buildings and why they are appealing: "Have you ever been to a old downtown and marveled at the historic buildings? Have you ever wondered how they could create such beautiful buildings on such small...
A study by the universities of Washington and Maryland researchers adds further weight to the notion — now confirmed in many studies — that smart growth (higher density, mixed-use, walkable urban form) significantly reduces vehicle miles traveled (...
More than 700 people in Chicago died during an extreme heat wave in July, 1995. Two adjacent neighborhoods, both poor and predominantly black with the same microclimate, demonstrate how social connections can save lives, according to a report in The...
During the first decade of this century the US suburban homicide rate rose 16.9 percent while declining 16.7 percent in cities, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Overall, crime dropped sharply in the US from 2000-2010. "The decline in...
MSN Money reports on the revival of train travel in the US. "Amtrak set a national ridership record of 31.2 million passengers in fiscal 2012 -- including a new record 11.4 million travelers on its Northeast Corridor services. Amtrak says it...
It's rare that a developer/businessman makes a list of top public benefactors. Rarer still are they elevated to local royalty. "In this city, Joe Edwards is a prince," Ray Hartmann, founder of St. Louis's Riverfront Times, tells The Christian...
Nearly three our out of four US metro regions saw an increase in infill development in the five-year period 2005-2009 compared to 2000-2004, according to a new report from EPA (pdf download). Residential Construction Trends in America's...
North Philadelphia remains one of the nation's most economically depressed inner-city areas, but there are signs of revitalization. One highly visible symbol of blight is the Divine Lorraine hotel, a 118-year-old glorious ruin on North Broad Street...