Changes to New Urban Network
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Dear Readers:
You will notice changes to New Urban Network. The changes are not radical — we will continue to offer new free content daily, often several times a day, on how to plan, design, and implement mixed-use, compact, stronger cities and towns. We will continue to offer blogs, articles, and links to relevant content from around the web.
The main change is this: Under the heading New Urban News, readers will now see premium content. Subscribers to New Urban News, our print publication, will be able to read these articles at any time. Other readers will see a portion of the article for free and will have the option of purchasing reasonably priced downloads of issues or of subscribing for a year to get the full content.
What’s the difference? The free content remains excellent and informative. The premium goes several steps further. It’s more than mere news — it’s intelligence on smart growth implementation that will help you to find solutions and make you smarter in planning, development, and community building.
Producing content of this quality is expensive, but well worth the effort. As good as the web is, you can Google for days and not find the answers available in a single issue of New Urban News. You will find that a subscription to New Urban News will pay for itself many times over.
If you don’t read it, somebody else will: Perhaps officials from the neighboring city or town; or, a competing planner, developer, or urban development professional. Those who read it gain an edge in greener, stronger, cities and towns. (Note: CNU membership at the Urbanist level and above will continue to include all New Urban News content).
At New Urban Network and New Urban News, we are dedicated to making the built environment a better place. Thank you to all of our readers — those who come to New Urban Network, those who read New Urban News, those who read our books like New Urbanism: Best Practices Guide and the SmartCode Version 9 and Manual, and those who benefit from all of the above.
We sincerely hope that the new website format will make it as convenient as possible for our readers to access all of the content — both the free and the premium variety. Contact us with any comments or ideas. We’d love to hear from you.
Once again, thank you, and I hope that your urban environment will continue to thrive.
Robert Steuteville
Editor & publisher
PS: The latest issue of New Urban News was recently posted, with some excellent articles. If you are a subscriber, simply log in to read them. If you are not a subscriber, you might want to subscribe or to download the September 2011 issue. The following are headlines and descriptions:
Walk Score could lead to better-planned transit networks
As Walk Score’s calculations gain sophistication, planners are using the system to determine where to put light-rail stations.
How to redo commercial strips, one piece at a time
The “Incremental Sprawl Repair” project identifies methods for remaking road corridors when financing and transit are limited.
Project shows how to get a transit village built
Small families, rental apartments, and a right-sized central square are keys to development at Pleasant Hill in Contra Costa County, California.
Uncertain future for Golden State redevelopment
Financing for smart growth and TOD faces possible cutbacks as redevelopment agencies are caught in California budget battle.
Many infill projects use versatile Katrina Cottages
Katrina Cottages, which were designed as alternatives to emergency trailers after Hurricane Katrina, are getting a second life in projects across the US.
Death on the highway
What happened in Marietta reveals how exposed millions of Americans are to mortal danger in their daily lives.
With “Our Town,” NEA funds livability
The funds are intended “to strengthen the arts while shaping the social, physical, and economic characters of their neighborhoods, towns, cities, and regions.”
Tracking the shrinking Walmart
“Walmart Express” units of just 15,000 square feet are on the way — responding to Americans’ growing reluctance to drive long distances.
Goodbye, suburban parking lots. Hello, garages.
Supermarkets are increasingly coming equipped with parking garages. Could “automated parking” be in the future?
Walking Home: The Life and Lessons of a City Builder
Review of a book by Ken Greenberg, Random House Canada, 2011, 394 pp., $29.95 hardcover
