The National Complete Streets Coalition, a program of Smart Growth America, released a new report analyzing street improvements in 37 neighborhoods across the country and finding that streets re-designed with all users … [Read more...]
How City Trees, Related Vegetation Reduce Pollution, Improve Health
The National Arbor Day Foundation has a simple app on its website that allows visitors to see how a city changes as it adds tree cover and other vegetation. Using a little sliding tool, one can gradually change the … [Read more...]
Who’s sprawling now? Mixed signals on the market
The giant hospitality chain Marriott is planning to move its corporate headquarters away from a completely automobile-dependent campus in suburban Washington, DC. And they are looking for a more transit-oriented … [Read more...]
Bringing Sustainability to Small Towns
In my writing I frequently celebrate leadership in community sustainability from such progressive, highly urbanized metro areas as Portland, Seattle, and Philadelphia, and even from more sprawling locales such as Los … [Read more...]
Noise Pollution: Insidious Health Threat or Just ‘City Livin’?
EDITOR'S NOTE: You don't have to live in an intensely urban setting to know that noise can be a significant concern, with a real effect on your quality of life. Even residential suburban neighborhoods and rural … [Read more...]
How Suburban Sprawl, Inadequate Transit Worsen Unemployment
Recently laid-off workers who live far from job centers take longer to find replacement employment than do residents of neighborhoods more convenient to jobs by public transit or car. So says new, meticulously thorough … [Read more...]
Walkable communities: Good for our environment, our health and our budgets
We know from exhaustive past research that walkable neighborhoods and cities reduce driving, associated emissions, and living costs. Three important academic studies published earlier this year demonstrate that they are … [Read more...]
For smart growth, not all urban density is created equal
Have you ever noticed how those of us who promote walkable, “smart growth” city neighborhoods often choose historic districts to illustrate what we advocate? Take the photo at the top of this article, for example: I’m … [Read more...]