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.
Peter Brown, an architect, urban planner, and member of the Congress for the New Urbanism, narrowly lost a bid to get into a runoff election for mayor of Houston, Texas. Brown finished third with 23 percent of the vote. Annise Parker (31 percent)...
Five neighborhoods with as many as 5500 housing units and as much as 6.1 million sq ft of office and
Five neighborhoods, with as many as 5,500 housing units and as much as 6.1 million sq. ft. of office and retail space, are envisioned in a proposed 640-acre development around a commuter and long-distance rail station in New Carrollton, Maryland....
The first Katrina cottage was occupied in New Orleans according to a September 27 report from ABC Ne
The first Katrina cottage was occupied in New Orleans, according to a September 27 report from ABC News. Omaira Falcon was the first resident to occupy a Katrina cottage in Louisiana, according to the report. The state received a $74 million grant...
Calthorpe Associates has been hired to lead a $2.5 million Vision California effort — to create a strategic growth plan for the state, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Phase one will be to set up parameters for the project and compile data...
South Main in Buena Vista, Colorado, began construction in January 2007, just as the nationwide housing bubble was bursting. It was bad timing for the 315-home development, located in a small former mining town 35 miles from the nearest ski resort....
International Code Council turns down a CNU proposal, and instead recommends giving fire officials veto power over traffic-calming measures.
A study released in November called Dangerous by Design, by Transportation for America, takes a comprehensive look at pedestrian danger in the US. During the last 15 years, more than 76,000 pedestrians have been killed. Most of the deaths, 56...
The LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) program won approval from all of the groups essential to taking it from pilot status to a full-fledged program. In a consensus body of approximately 3,000 members of the US Green Building Council, just...
Weve been reporting for six or seven years that Arlington Virginia is something of a development won
We’ve been reporting for six or seven years that Arlington, Virginia, is something of a development wonder. Since 1979, when the Orange line opened with five underground Metro stations, the city has gained approximately 20 million square feet of new...
Long Branch a New Jersey beach city that hit hard times in recent decades is getting a big boost fro
Long Branch, a New Jersey beach city that hit hard times in recent decades, is getting a big boost from a 16-acre mixed use development called Pier Village. The project is about two-thirds developed by Applied Development Company of Hoboken, and...
Three of the affordable housing developments in Asheville, North Carolina, that were reported on in the October-November New Urban News were produced by Mountain Housing Opportunities, not Mountain Home Opportunities. Financial support comes from...
NEW TOWN UPDATE (posted on website) Yesterday Whittaker Builders and First Bank worked out an approved order with the court to operate under chapter 11 for the next 6 months while Whittaker works on a plan to exit chapter 11.