Lessons from the Sun Belt: replacing sprawl with smart growth requires sustained commitment

<!--break--> For smart urbanism to be more than a boutique product, it must become not an experiment but standard practice in jurisdictions across the county.  When Parris Glendening was governor in the late 1990s and early 2000s, for example, the state of Maryland had real leadership on progressive land use; it was just... [read more]

Bold, smart, green vision proposed for Raleigh

<!--break--> Dan Douglas was, until recently, chief downtown planner and director of the Urban Design Council in Raleigh, the state capital of North Carolina. He is now in private architectural practice, but his passion for the city remains, apparently. In particular, he is now proposing that a public/private corporation be formed to... [read more]

Collective Cul-de-sac Action

<!--break--> In a generally interesting post, Mary Newsom includes a fascinating piece of information:An intriguing study from Charlotte’s city staff illustrates another of sprawl’s hidden costs, with city taxpayers in this instance footing the bill: Fire station costs are sharply lower in older parts of town where streets connect.... [read more]