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.
Two studies reinforce the importance of walkable, compact development in dealing with climate change.
Reform of the state departments of transportation has been a key goal of new urbanists for years — and it appears to be actually underway in two major states, Pennsylvania and Texas.
A 150-plus-acre tract in Ferguson Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania is planned for a mixed-use traditional neighborhood development, the Centre Daily Times reports. The plan was created by Thomas Comitta Associates of West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Just over a year after the Congress for the New Urbanism launched the Emergency Response & Street Design Initiative, the project is poised to change minds and national fire codes.
Instead of calling for more discussion, LEED organizers want to put the Neighborhood Development program up for a yes-or-no vote.After five years of preparation and testing, members of the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Congress for the...
David Cohen says he hasn’t given up on his dream of building defect-free houses in a factory and then wheeling them onto foundations in a new urban community. But he has recalibrated the number of houses that his company, Cohen Brothers Homes, must...
The most recent census data shows that cities are growing at the expense of suburbs, according to a July 1 Wall Street Journal article. The demographic shift is a combination of preference for urban environments, and inability to sell homes in the...
Montgomery County, Maryland, a suburban area of nearly 1 million people bordering the nation’s capital, is considering adopting a system that would offer financial incentives and reduced impact fees to developers who build near mass transit, provide...
A page 1 article in the June 2009 issue referred to Hampton, Virginia, as a city with “little or no existing urbanism.” While mostly suburban in character, Hampton has a historic area with a grid of streets and a downtown. The city has been working...
Joint US program of HUD, DOT, and EPA will target regional planning, zoning reform, and research.
Developer Robert Chapman has found a formula for succeeding with a new urban development in this severe real estate downturn: team up with a growing institution that can nearly guarantee a strong market.
Maryland’s Congressional representatives are being asked to insert $22.8 million of earmarks into the current federal transportation bill so that roundabouts can be built at five locations on busy Baltimore traffic corridors.