A Discussion On New Urbanism

"The Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan embraces many of the principles that are associated with the new urbanism, although it does not explicitly use that term. There are a number of related terms that are often used almost interchangeably, including "neotraditional" planning, "smart growth," and "traditional neighborhood development." For purposes of this discussion paper, the term "new urbanism" will be used, in large part because it has been defined in the Charter of the New Urbanism, which is attached as Appendix A and will be discussed below. The Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan suggests the City consider using "form codes," a type of zoning regulation that emphasizes building types rather than land uses, and which can be used to implement new urbanism."