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.
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...
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...
Riverside in Atlanta, an 85-acre neotraditional development by Post Properties, was named the “Mixed Use Deal of the Decade” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The first phase, built around a town square based on Princeton, New Jersey, included 245,...
Project in Jersey City pushes the envelope in terms of density and transit access.
A new waterfront neighborhood isplanned in Jersey City, New Jersey, using urbanism based on Central Park West, Grammercy Park, and other Manhattan neighborhoods....
Corporations are rediscovering the benefits of pedestrian-oriented environments.
Office parks, with gleaming glass buildings surounded by parking, are the workplace equivalent of the cookie-cutter subdivision. Although office parks still...
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...
The American Institute of Architects recently created a Center for Livable Communities, which is directed by Stephanie Bothwell, a long-time new urbanist.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking at giving regulatory breaks to a downtown Atlanta development on the basis that the project will reduce long-term pollution compared to sprawling suburban construction. The redevelopment of the...
Town Planning Collaborative and HomeStyles Publishing and Marketing recently released the third volume in their groundbreaking TND Series, which provides plans for a variety of neotraditional building types — single family detached homes, both large...