U.S. Army Discovers New Urbanism

The New Urbanism is lots of things, most of them old: Front porches.Dormers. Alleys. Town squares. Garages that hide behind houses rather than dominating them. Streets that go somewhere, that don't dead-end in cul-de-sacs. Offices, shops and housing close together, perhaps in the same building. More attention to pedestrians, less to theautomobile. Fort Lewis embraced the New Urbanism through a process that even those in charge acknowledge is very un-Army-like: focus groups,design exercises, town-hall meetings.