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.
A new bimonthly publication for new traditional neighborhoods, The Town Paper, seeks to make potential homebuyers more comfortable with the traditional neighborhood development (TND) concept by offering them residents’ perspectives on TNDs. Through...
Liveable Communities: An Evaluation Guide was recently released by The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) to help senior citizens understand how public transportation, driving, walking, housing, shopping, and civic features contribute to...
Forest City, a national real estate development firm, has been selected as the codeveloper, with the Stapleton Development Corp., of the former Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colorado. Forest City agreed to pay the city $83.8 million for 2,935 acres...
The 1999 Seaside Prize was awarded to Robert A. M. Stern, dean of Yale University School of Architecture and one of the architects of Disney’s Celebration. The prize, to
be presented May 15, is annually awarded by the Seaside Institute in Seaside...
Highland Garden Village, a 27-acre TND in Denver, Colorado, has commitments from buyers for almost half the lots scheduled for phase one construction this spring without any significant marketing efforts or built models, according to developer Perry...
1Projects feature new urbanist design and are located on urban sites or previously developed suburban sites; 2Designed means the project is on hold, but has a chance of being built; groundbreaking means infrastructure construction; advanced planning...
Research demonstrates that new urbanists are focusing substantial attention on “infill” planning and development.
Most media coverage of the New Urbanism focuses on new towns like Seaside, Celebration, Kentlands, Harbor Town, and Northwest...
A recent editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune described Ted Mondale’s appointment by Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura to head the Metropolitan Council as “an inspired choice.” As a state senator, Mondale authored several pieces of legislation...
Once There Were Greenfields: How Urban Sprawl is Undermining America’s Environment, Economy and Social Fabric offers an in-depth look at sprawl and its alternatives within a social context. Published by The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)...
Frijoles Village, a 345-acre TND near Santa Fe, New Mexico, recently received a loan from Los Alamos National Bank to build phase one infrastructure and pay back a $1 million predevelopment loan. Phase one includes 220 residential lots, 20...
CNU’s Executive Director Shelley Poticha has been to Washington, D.C., twice recently to advocate at the federal level for policies that will rejuvenate cities, curb sprawl, and promote development that will create livable communities with...
The University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning recently hosted its first Detroit Urban Design Charrette, organized by new dean and long-time new urbanist Doug Kelbaugh. The five day charrette developed plans for a poor inner...