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.
Gulf region takes context-sensitive roadway design to a new level.
Jason Miller, former editor of New Towns, succeeded in raising $10,000 to resurrect the Concrete Herald, a community newspaper with a 91-year heritage in the town of Concrete and eastern Skagit County, Washington. In addition to editing and...
The Alley Flat Initiative which encourages the development of small affordable dwellings along under
The Alley Flat Initiative, which encourages the development of small, affordable dwellings along under-used alleys in Austin, Texas, has celebrated the construction of its second house — a 600 sq. ft. unit featuring a “rain screen” clad in terra...
By Andrew M. ShankenAs Shanken’s book warns, a return to business as usual can occur very quickly once a crisis has passed.
Financing from land owner partly offsets the continuing lack of bank lending for real estate development.
Within sight of Interstate 8, which carries nearly 9 million vehicles a year, the Tanimura & Antle Inc. lettuce-farming enterprise has...
Dan Burden, founder of Walkable Communities Inc., has started what he says will be his sixth and final nonprofit organization, the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, in Port Townsend, Washington.
Washington, DC, is considering eliminating its minimum parking requirements for retail establishments, offices, and apartments near Metro stations, according to a report in the Washington Post. The city has discovered that parking requirements based...
Bristol Downtown Development Corp of Bristol Connecticut has selected Renaissance Downtowns of Plain
Bristol Downtown Development Corp. of Bristol, Connecticut, has selected Renaissance Downtowns of Plainview, New York, to revitalize the site of a former shopping mall. The selection was scheduled to be voted on by city council in January, according...
Years of preparation by Canadian urbanists, including municipal planners, urban design officials, academics, and private practitioners, have culminated in the formation of the Council for Canadian Urbanism (CanU).
In two new urban developments under construction by LeylandAlliance — Warwick Grove in Warwick, New York, and Hammond’s Ferry in North Augusta, South Carolina — designer Marianne Cusato is introducing a house tailored to today’s insecure economic...
Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2010, the annual report on the industry from the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers, is bearish on commercial real estate in general but bullish on mixed use, urban neighborhoods. A “fundamental shift” is...