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.
Amicus Partners is the new home of Robert Shaw, former Dallas Cowboy and pioneering new urbanist developer. “Amicus means friends in Latin,” Shaw says, “and we are three friends who believe cities are going to be better.” Shaw’s partners are Jim...
The American Planning Association recently awarded its Outstanding Planning Award in the “Information Technology” category to an electronic Community Vision Survey conducted in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey. Designed and implemented by Looney...
The American Planning Association has published the report “Guide for Livable Communities Through ‘Smart Development.’” The report shows how communities are revamping development regulations and includes design guidelines and sample ordinances....
The new federal Transportation and Community and System Preservation Pilot program (TCSP) offers cities funds to explore the links between transportation and land use. TCSP is developed by the Federal Highway Administration, the Department of...
Seaside’s surroundings are about to change. The WaterColor development has broken ground adjacent to the famous TND. The project will include a resort hotel, 1,440 housing units, as well as retail and office space.
St. Michaels, Maryland, a town of 700 homes on Chesapeake Bay, must decide whether to approve a new urbanist project or allow conventional development. The Midland Companies of Washington, D.C., proposed Miles Point, a 375-unit TND, on an 89-acre...
Construction is underway in West Park Village, a 225-acre TND located in the 2,000-acre Westchase development near Tampa, Florida. Designed by RTKL, the project is one of the first transit-oriented developments in Florida. It features several...
Playa Vista in West Los Angeles recently lost its most prominent tenant when DreamWorks SKG scrapped their plans for a studio. The facility represented only 4 percent of the entire development, and the loss won’t affect the rest of the building...
The physical components of the New Urbanism — the houses, streets, and neighborhoods — are designed to foster social cohesion and civic engagement, but an attractive public realm alone does not make a vibrant community. A relatively new type of...
Whether you measure the New Urbanism (NU) by the diversity of its enemies, or by the power of its friends, it has come a long way in 1999, the year suburban sprawl was elevated to a national issue. Environmental groups, the vice president, the...
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has released the report “Challenging Sprawl: Organizational Responses to a National Problem.” The report gathers viewpoints on sprawl and alternative development patterns from representatives of national...
David Rusk’s new book, Inside Game, Outside Game: Winning Strategies for Saving Urban America, provides a critique of the efforts of the federal government and community development corporations to revitalize urban neighborhoods. A former mayor of...