West Chester, Pennsylvania is the model of a walkable, new urbanist community with a classic main street.
"One Tom -- surname Comitta -- is a city planner, landscape designer, and self-professed New Urbanist, who has lived and worked in West Chester for 28 of his 52 years. The other Tom - Spackman - is a local real estate dealer whose family has been in the West Chester area since the 18th century. Together they are giving me a living lesson in urban design and sociology, with the corner of Gay and High as our case study."Gay Street is a classic Main Street," Tom Comitta says, just before stepping off the curb. "Sixty feet, six inches, from wall to wall." The walls he refers to are the rows of storefronts lining each side of the street. "Like an outdoor room," he says. And it's true: In the contained corridor of Gay Street, the connected buildings feel like walls, the awnings and tree canopies spread overhead like a ceiling, street and sidewalk become a floor."
Thanks to The Practice of New Urbanism
FULL STORY: Passionate about West Chester
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Maine Approves Rent Relief Program
Legislators hope the assistance program will help struggling low-income households avoid eviction.
How Transit Architecture Impacts Real and Perceived Safety
More than a third of Americans believe major transit systems are too unsafe to ride. The built environment can change that.
New York Passes Housing Package Focused on New Development and Adaptive Reuse
The FY 2025 budget includes a new tax incentive, funding for affordable housing on state land, and support for adaptive reuse and ADUs.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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.
