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.
As the New Urbanism gains in popularity, new urbanist “catchwords” are being used by more conventional developers to market their projects. One such development, described “neotraditional” in a newspaper article, consists of luxury homes on one-acre...
n The Design Center for American Urban Landscape at the University of Minnesota hosted a conference from January 21-23 on “Reframing the 1945-1965 Suburb.” Many CNU members participated in the discussions which examined the social, physical,...
A Florida agency sets an example for government planners that want to foster the New Urbanism.
Some 500 regional planning organizations operate in the United States. Up until 10 years ago, the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council...
Roberta Brandes Gratz and Norman Mintz have written an excellent report on how cities and towns are coming back to life in Cities Back from the Edge. Published by Preservation Press, the book focuses on trends like suburban sprawl that have...
By Richard V. Francaviglia University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, Iowa, 1996. Softcover, 192 pp., $17.95 New Urbanists will enjoy this book for the clues it provides to the form, social value, and composition of main streets. Richard...
The proposed 136-unit Cityside residential development in Atlantic City will utilize Frank Lloyd Wright’s original American System-Built Homes as a design basis, making the project the first comprehensive development in the United States to use this...
Farr and Associates, a new urbanist architecture firm in Chicago, Illinois, has designed a new downtown for Swansea, Illinois called Swansea Town Center, which links the village with a MetroLink station to be built on the light-rail line connecting...
annual congress
An ambitious agenda includes the exploration of ways to promote and sustain an urban renaissance in the 21st Century.
This year the Congress for the New Urbanism will convene its seventh annual conference, CNU VII:...
It was good to hear the Clinton administration weigh in on the sprawl issue, unveiling a “Livability Agenda.” Vice President Al Gore outlined the proposal in early January, which includes a host of initiatives.
These include: tax credits of $700...
The Local Government Commission’s Center for Livable Communities in Sacramento, California recently published The Ahwahnee Principles for Smart Economic Development, a guidebook on economic development that presents 15 principles for integrating...
Gaithersburg, Maryland recently adopted a Smart Growth Policy which expands on the Neighborhood Preservation and Smart Growth Initiative passed by the State of Maryland in 1997. The Policy establishes local guidelines for Smart Growth based on the...
Middleton Glen, a senior independent living facility, is slated for fall, 1999, completion in the 149-acre Middleton Hills traditional neighborhood development (TND) in Madison, Wisconsin. Essex Corporation, the developer of the three-storey, 55-...