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.
Valuing the New Urbanism: the Impact on Prices of the New Urbanism on Single-Family Homes, written by George Washington University economists Mark Eppli and Charles Tu and published by the Urban Land Institute, contains valuable research for...
New Jersey was the first state to adopt a separate building code for older buildings, according to John Patella, senior policy advisor with the Department of Community Affairs. In the first year of the code, 1998, rehabilitation work in the state’s...
The Environmental Protection Agency is now soliciting proposals for the FY 1999/2000 Sustainable Development Challenge Grant (SDCG). The program “challenges communities to invest in a sustainable future” and encourages “place-based approaches to...
The University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning, headed by new urbanist Doug Kelbaugh, received a $30 million gift from philanthropist Alfred Taubman. The gift will allow the college to hire new faculty, create a new program in...
JPI, a major Texas-based developer of luxury apartments, is seeking final approval for Jefferson Center, a 109-acre mixed residential, office, and retail project north of Austin, Texas. The proposed development of 1,500 dwellings would be located in...
The first phase of construction is nearing completion in Afton Village, a 170-acre traditional neighborhood development (TND) in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Ten single homes, twelve townhomes, and four duplexes are scheduled for completion by...
Two books explore life in Disney's new town near Orlando, Florida.
State/name Location Status (Completion)2 Developer/sponsor3 Designer4,5 Acres Characteristics
Alabama
1. Blount Springs Blount Springs Construction Blount Springs DPZ 5,000 128 homes (phase1)
(60% phase 1) Recolonization Partners...
CNU is now taking orders for the first edition of Charter, a book of 27 essays and commentary which expand on the principles outlined in the Charter of the New Urbanism, the guiding document of this revolution in the way cities are designed, built,...
A bestselling book by architect Sarah Susanka turns new urbanist concepts inside out by addressing an area often overlooked by the community design movement — the inside of the house. Her argument in The Not So Big House for a better use of space...
A recent article in the Charlotte Observer reported on the trend toward “billboard buildings,” new commercial buildings that serve as a visual trademark for national retail chains in order to be instantly recognized by consumers. “It’s a marketing...
Park DuValle, one of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s largest Hope VI projects, is turning out to be a hit with buyers. The 1,200-unit redevelopment of a public housing project in Louisville, Kentucky, is designed by Urban Design...