Roebling, New Jersey is a company town built around a steel wire factory. But founder John A. Roebling had a few ideas about making a community there, as a new museum attests.
"Kinkora Works opened in 1905, and Charles built a model company town to house the workers. 'It was modeled on Pullman, Chicago, a suburb designed by George Pullman for the George Pullman sleeping car company,' says Mr. Zink, who wrote Spanning the Industrial Age: The John A. Roebling's Sons Company, Trenton, New Jersey, 1848-1974 in 1992 with Dorothy White Hartman.
'But Roebling built a far more elaborate town than he had to,' adds Mr. Zink. The homes were built of brick with slate roofs and chestnut trim in 15 distinct architectural types, and there was a community hall, a library, baseball and football fields and a recreation hall, as well as an inn.
The two- to seven-bedroom houses were allocated for different skill levels of workers. Single men slept in a boarding house, and semi-detached row houses were used for entry-level workers. Foremen and supervisors received more spacious Colonial or Tudor style dwellings.
'This was during the model tenement movement, where social reformers had ideas about how housing could improve peoples' lives," says Mr. Zink. "They believed if you gave outdoor spaces with trees and a park, lives would be improved and employers would benefit from less absenteeism and more productivity.'"
FULL STORY: Men of Steel

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions
An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.

What Happens if Trump Kills Section 8?
The Trump admin aims to slash federal rental aid by nearly half and shift distribution to states. Experts warn this could spike homelessness and destabilize communities nationwide.

Sean Duffy Targets Rainbow Crosswalks in Road Safety Efforts
Despite evidence that colorful crosswalks actually improve intersection safety — and the lack of almost any crosswalks at all on the nation’s most dangerous arterial roads — U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy is calling on states to remove them.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie