Commentary: Hard times for sprawlmeisters
We need planning that emulates places that people love: downtowns, villages, towns, and even suburbs. There’s a difference between fundamentally sound suburbs, which can be made to be walkable and human-scale, and sprawl, which cannot. Suburbs can be saved just like cities — through the techniques of urbanism.
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SmartCode comes to New England
Jamestown, Rhode Island, and Hamden, Connecticut, could be the first two New England communities to adopt the SmartCode.
Defeat for another mall owner
Taubman Centers is not the only large mall owner to try to squelch plans for construction of a pedestrian-scale mixed-use center near one of its existing regional malls. Growth Properties (GGP) must pay $74.2 million in compensatory damages for attempting to undermine The Americana at Brand, a 15.5-acre retail, entertainment, and residential project under way in downtown Glendale, California.
Traditional design group is launched in US
A US group devoted to traditional architecture and urbanism made its debut at the Traditional Building Show in New Orleans this October. The new organization — the American affiliate of the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism (INTBAU) — is chaired by Michael Mehaffy, a new urbanist architect and planner based near Portland, Oregon.
Housing with natural drainage wins EPA awards
Two Pacific Northwest HOPE VI developments that combine well-connected street networks and natural drainage systems were among the winners of the 2007 National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement presented by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Restrictions spur dispute over public rights in Maryland center
A security guard at a large Maryland development known as “Downtown Silver Spring” ordered a photographer to stop shooting pictures on its property. The photographer argued that he was “on a city street, in a public place.” This seems likely to be an ongoing issue in new urban centers elsewhere.
Chapels for hire
Landmark buildings in Traditional Neighborhood Developments can more than pay for themselves through weddings and other functions. |
Photo by Philip Langdon
Courtesy of Charlotte DOT and National Complete Streets Coalition
Courtesy of David Carrico and Duany Plater-Zyberk
