McMain Streets, Gentrification, and the Futility of Authenticity as Urbanism Becomes Mainstream

As people interested in undoing damage caused by the rise of the suburban development pattern, how should we feel about so-called “McMain Streets”?

Suburban Experiment, Top StoryAlex MusicJuly 15, 2022suburbs, suburbanization, suburban experiment, walkability, gentrification, Gentrification, urban planning, urban design, Urban Renewal

Modern Urban Planning Is Inside Out

Today, city planning departments obsess over what happens inside buildings but pay scant attention to the quality of the space outside them.

Urban Design, Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJuly 6, 2022urban design, urban planning, Parks, parks, public space, planning process, Privatization, Florida, design, Development, development

The Case for Abolishing Zoning

For the sake of our cities and the people who live in them, it’s time we fundamentally rethink how we regulate land in America. Read about it in this excerpt from Nolan Gray’s new book, Arbitrary Lines.

Zoning, Gray, Top StoryNolan GrayJune 30, 2022zoning, urban design, books, excerpt, Land Use, planning process

What Thinking Like a Mountain Has To Teach Us About Thinking Like a City

Aldo Leopold was an ecologist, not an urban planner, but insights from his Sand County Almanac can resonate with anyone interested in urbanism.

Top StorySeth ZerenJune 24, 2022urbanism, books, ecology, environment, Development, development, urban design, urban planning

Less Parking Lots, More People Space

This interactive map allows you to view just how much space is being wasted in your city (and in the rest of the U.S.) on parking lots.

Herriges Rezoned: A City Shaped by Many Hands

Incrementalism is not an end in itself. Nor is it about a “small-is-beautiful” aesthetic for its own sake. Instead, it’s a practical pathway toward resilient, financially sound places.

Herriges, Housing, Urban Design, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMay 11, 2022Chaotic but Smart, traditional development pattern, small-scale developers, Charleston, incremental development, incremental, incrementalism, North Carolina, urban design, housing, Housing

Hunched Beneath the Airport Flight Path: Terrible Places to Work, Even Worse to Get To

This Not Just Bikes video takes a look at airport business parks as an interesting (and infuriating) case study for places designed for cars instead of people

Video, Urban Design, Top StoryJay StangeApril 26, 2022Not Just Bikes, car culture, car dependency, auto-oriented, #PedestrianUnfriendly, urban design, business parks

Reflections on Seaside

What does and doesn’t work about the “great-granddaddy” of New Urbanism?

Walkability, Urban Design, Incrementalism, Top StorySeth ZerenApril 22, 2022Florida, urbanism, New Urbanism, urban planning, urban design, placemaking, human scale, incrementalism, incremental development, incremental, traditional development pattern, walkability

In Hospitable Cities, You’re Welcomed by Design

Some neighborhoods can feel downright hostile, especially to outsiders. But many places have become this way due to inhospitable design, not inhospitable people.

Neighborhoods, Public Space, Urban Design, Top Story, OwensTiffany Owens ReedMarch 31, 2022placemaking, urban design, Neighborhood Design, Neighborhoods, suburban experiment, human scale, walkability, Texas, public space, food trucks, neighborhood revitalization, traditional development pattern

The Road That Killed a City

From its one-time status as one of America’s most prosperous cities, Hartford, CT, is now one of the poorest—no thanks to its mid-twentieth-century urban renewal projects.

Copy What You Know Works

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to create places that aren’t bad—and that should be the first and foremost goal for a city.

#PlaceIDontWanttoSit, Herriges, Urban Design, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMarch 10, 2022placemaking, public space, urban design, design, greenspace, public engagement

What Have Cities *Actually* Accomplished in the Past 100 Years?

The modern conceit is that we are far more advanced than the people of past generations—but how do our cities really stack up against those of the past?

Urban Design, Zoning, Top StoryKevin KlinkenbergMarch 2, 2022history, urban planning, planning profession, urban design, Kansas City, missouri, Missouri, zoning

Cities, Stop Bending the Rules for Drive-Thru Businesses

Cities should not be afraid to impose design standards that meet the community’s needs and that don’t jeopardize long-term planning for the public realm.

Herriges, Urban Design, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesFebruary 23, 2022cars, car culture, urban design, #PedestrianUnfriendly, business, urbanism, design

Two Highways and Two Eras in New Jersey

These two highways in New Jersey run parallel and very close to each other—and traveling along them allows a sustained view of two different development approaches.

Roads and Streets, Urban Design, Top StoryAddison Del MastroFebruary 17, 2022roads, New Jersey, Addison Del Mastro, Development, development, development pattern, suburbanization, traditional development pattern, urban design, urban planning

Let Main Streets Be Main Streets

A community should determine what kind of community it wants to be, not unelected DOT engineers.

Forget What You Know About Public Engagement

It’s no secret that the conventional process for public engagement in urban planning is broken. So, what should we be doing, instead?

Engagement, Planning Profession, Urban Design, Top StoryJames Rojas and John KampFebruary 2, 2022public engagement, planning process, urban planning, books, urban design, California

There is Unrest in the Urban Forest

“Preserve the trees” or “clear the way for more housing”—which side should you take? (Good news: It’s a false choice, to begin with.)

Herriges, Housing, Environment, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJanuary 12, 2022trees, street trees, environment, urban design, housing, Housing, housing activism, housing policy

Renderings vs. Reality: A Roundup of 2021s Most Egregious Development Illustrations

If a picture can say a thousand words, it can probably also tell at least 100 lies—as demonstrated by these development projects that did not turn out as promised.