The source for New Urbanism, smart growth, and walkable communities
New Urbanism: Best Practices Guide, 4th Edition
NEW!!
The definitive reference for new urban ideas, practices, and projects
The Avenue of the Arts in Philadelphia with new lighting. Photo courtesy of Jim Abbott for Center City District.
Books
New Urban News
A professional newsletter for planners, developers, architects, builders, public officials and others who are interested in the creation of human-scale communities.
The online articles below represent a portion of the material available in the printed version of New Urban News. To get the full printed publication, subscribe.
June 2009,
Vol. 14, No. 4
What color is your cultural district?
South Broad Street in downtown Philadelphia looks a bit blue at times. But stick around for a few minutes and its complexion changes — to white, red, lavender, green, yellow, or others colors. That’s because five blocks of Broad Street have recently been equipped with probably the most high-tech lighting program of any city in America.
Along Interstate 64 in southeastern Virginia, a $276 million mixed-use town center is opening at a tough time. Three- and four-story buildings with first-floor retail are rising near seas of parking and suburban arterial roads in Hampton, a city of 145,000 containing little or no existing urbanism — in a metro area of 1.8 million people.
Seattle area looks at how walkable community design can cut global warming
Compact, mixed-use development linked to lowered greenhouse gases.
Commentary: New Urbanism has come
a long way in six years
As time goes by, New Urbanism engages an ever larger variety of places, issues, and goals. Much of the world may not yet realize it, but the movement has come a long way since Seaside. Judge for yourself in New Urbanism: Best Practices Guide, 4th Edition.
Available in print only:
Trouble for urban investment funds
The San Diego Smart Growth Fund, one of a number of funds devoted to smart-growth projects across the US, has succumbed to the real estate depression.
Mall redevelopments delayed
Mixed-use development at the Columbia Town Center in Columbia, Maryland, and at Cottonwood Mall in Holladay, Utah, is being delayed by the depressed economy and by the bankruptcy filing of the Chicago-based owner, General Growth Properties (GGP).
Infill strategy for the downturn
John Anderson and his partner David Kim are now working as consultants and/or developers on “a constellation of small infill projects” in Chico, California.
Four keys to successful town centers
Yaromir Steiner explains four important rules for regional urban centers.
Shorter streetlights are better
The Center City District has been systematically improving lighting for pedestrians in the core of Philadelphia since 1997. “We’re about two-thirds of the way through replacing highway-scale cobrahead light fixtures with shorter, pedestrian-scale street lamps,” says Paul Levy, president of the business improvement district.
A green and traditional house
Stephen Mouzon of Miami Beach was one of four architects around the US that The Wall Street Journal asked to design “the green house of the future” for publication in the Journal’s April 27 issue.
A shopping center that bridges the
car-pedestrian gap
The Town of Davidson, about a half-hour drive north of downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, is trying to steer a middle course between accommodating today’s predominantly automobile-oriented suburban habits and introducing a more pedestrian-scale way of life like that of Davidson’s historic downtown.
Courtyard living gains renewed interest in Santa Fe
The City of Santa Fe is looking toward building a six-unit residential complex that has the potential to reinvigorate the New Mexico capital’s courtyard housing tradition.
Which factors matter, and why
Research tells us that CO2 from transportation is the result of a location’s accessibility to major destinations and the design characteristics of an area. Thus, both where development goes and how it is designed matter.
Book reviews:
The Architecture of Community
By Léon Krier, edited by
Dhiru A. Thadani and Peter J. Hetzel
Pedaling Revolution:
How Cyclists are Changing American Cities
By Jeff Mapes
Urban Design
Edited by Alex Krieger and William S. Saunders
Also: CNU Update
Plus: • American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Environmental Health • Glenwood Park • Southern Village • Serenbe • employment steadily decentralized • Any city is basically an oil well • National Charrette Institute released an educational DVD • Portland: Quest for the Livable City • “The Story of Sprawl” • The Infrastructurist • Traffic congestion • Village of Hamburg • Dhiru Thadani • Frank Greene • • •
