A sampling of recent media reports shows the

A sampling of recent media reports shows the New Urbanism is making inroads in the Midwest. Three prime examples: Akron, Ohio. An embattled new urbanist project, Canal Town Builders’ ten-acre Hickory Street residential development, won city council approval on December 9, but the victory was not without casualties. An opposing neighborhood group, the Hickory Street Coalition, garnered sufficient signatures on a petition to invoke a city charter provision requiring a “supermajority” vote of the council. Two compromises secured the necessary votes: One gave ownership of green space within the development to the future residents. A more troubling concession was a reduction in density from 88 units to 70 units, which one councilman said would diminish the prospects for attracting shops and restaurants to locate within walking distance. Meanwhile, the Hickory Street Coalition has vowed to pursue its opposition in the courts. Central Indiana. After years of struggling to overcome conventional zoning barriers and citizens’ fears of mixed uses, increased densities, and narrower streets, the newly platted Turner Trace, an 82-acre TND in Hendricks County, is at last poised to begin construction. A factor contributing to the turnaround: the reassuring example set by the Village of West Clay, a thriving new urbanist community in neighboring Hamilton County. Turner Trace will feature 236 lots for single-family houses, 48 townhouses and 17 acres of offices and retail establishments. St. Paul, Minnesota. A December 15 report by Pioneer Press, titled “Reinventing Suburbia,” turned up multiple examples of new urbanist makeovers in progress in the Twin Cities area, among them: the $200 million “Heart of the City” project in Burnsville; “Park Commons,” a $120 million development in St. Louis Park; Mendota Heights’ $11 million “Town Center”; and a $60 million redevelopment plan for Lino Lakes. And the list goes on, embracing the metropolitan communities of Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Eagan, St. Anthony, Apple Valley, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, Eden Prairie, and Lakeville—bringing the metro area investment in New Urbanism to more than $800 million. Driving the trend is a mounting desire among suburban towns to establish local identities. The report quotes planners and public officials who say the key to success will be the ability of the new projects to attract retail development.