Development
Livable Streets or Tall Buildings? Cities Can Have Both
Kaid Benfield's new blog post on density is getting a lot of buzz over at NRDC's Switchboard blog. Benfield, a planner/lawyer/professor/writer who co-founded both LEED's Neighborhood Development rating system and the Smart Growth America coalition, has some serious street cred when it comes to these matters. And on this one, he's with Danish architect Jan Gehl, who says wonderful places are built at human-scale density -- three to six stories.
October 6, 2014
Talking Headways Podcast: Good Riddance, “Level of Service”
All the buzz right now is about Arlington, Virginia -- the DC suburb has seen its population rise and its car traffic drop since the 1980s. How did they do it? It could be a lesson for Palo Alto, California, which is considering various growth proposals, including one that would invite greater density as long as it comes with no additional driving, carbon emissions, or water use.
July 15, 2014
Parking Craters Aren’t Just Ugly, They’re a Cancer on Your City’s Downtown
Streetsblog's Parking Madness competition has highlighted the blight that results when large surface parking lots take over a city's downtown. Even though Rochester, winner of 2014's Golden Crater, certainly gains bragging rights, all of the competitors have something to worry about: Cumulatively, the past 50 years of building parking have had a debilitating effect on America's downtowns.
April 10, 2014
Measuring the Shift Away From Car Ownership, City By City
A new analysis by Michael Andersen at Bike Portland helps illuminate how shifts in car ownership are playing out in different cities.
July 31, 2013
From Bust to Boom: Rental Housing Takes Off in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin, is on a building binge. Developers are constructing so much rental housing that market observers fear that the housing shortage could quickly turn into a glut. One thousand units were approved last year for large apartment complexes.
July 19, 2013
Housing Market Study: Idahoans Demanding Walkable Urbanism
People in Idaho, Montana, and Colorado want to live in walkable places. That's the finding of a recent housing market study by Sonoran Institute, a group that supports conservation and community development in the American West.
June 26, 2013
International Funders Shift Investments Toward Sustainable Transportation
If you think the United States is doing a bad job shifting toward sustainable transportation, take a look at the developing world. The places with the most to lose from auto-oriented development are doubling down on it -- to the enormous detriment of their citizens, especially the poorest.
August 13, 2012
The Greenwashing of Sprawl
Twenty-eight miles southeast of Cleveland, there is a development that bills itself as "Ohio's FIRST Green Certified Residential Community." According to the developer, The Lakes of Orange "offers a rare, one-of-kind opportunity to build and live in a green and sustainable environment."
April 11, 2012
Mixed-Use Development Delivers Huge Public Returns Compared to Sprawl
Walkable development pays -- that's the conclusion of a study recently outlined in Planetizen. For cities and towns facing tight budgets -- just about everywhere in the United States right now -- the smart way to boost tax revenue is to encourage mixed-use, walkable development, as the above graphic amply illustrates.
January 24, 2012
When “Old and Blighted” Development Beats “Shiny and New” Suburbanism
There are plenty of hidden costs to auto-oriented development: increased levels of air and water pollution, safety risks posed to pedestrians and cyclists. But as Strong Towns Blog points out, some costs are hardly hidden at all.
January 3, 2012