A new crop of developers are delivering fine-grained urbanism. Ben Brown checks into their boot camp and provides an update on the movement.
"For lots of reasons, including the ones PlaceMakers’ Scott Doyon explains here, Seaside, on the Northwest Florida Gulf Coast, makes a great place to talk about the appeal of small-scale dwellings in small-lot neighborhoods. Certainly, hanging out in a place where the real estate market has bid up the price for small wooden houses without lawns or garages to six and seven figures makes it harder to argue that nobody will pay for the privilege."
"Location, then, partially explains why some 30 prospective developers — and Bandit, the dog — arrived over the weekend to drill down on how-to topics related to just such places."
Brown goes on to cover the developers' boot camp, including videos with key points from the coaches: designers John Anderson and David Kim; Dallas developer Monte Anderson; and Mississippi architect/planner/developer Bruce Tolar. They are helping developers understand how to build somewhere in between the "mega-buck downtown development and mega-acre suburbs."
John Anderson's Venn Diagram of What We're Talking About
Read the full story: Filling in the ‘Missing Middle’: No new wheels, please
Ideas for Housing Opportunity: Some Sorta Oldish, Lots Very NUish
The latest in a list of tip-of-the-spear practitioners combining their own experience and expertise with the lessons of others who share similar commitments to the easy-to-grasp, hard-to-realize ideas driving new urbanism.
Are We There Yet? Affordability in the 'New Normal'
In the new normal, an affordable lifestyle is suddenly of interest to a larger circle of us. Here's what some interesting innovators are doing about it, between now and when our politics and legal structure fully align with our needs.
Here's to the Winners of the Seaside Prize and to 'Attainable Housing'
Housing supply is offering up something that looks very different than what today's households want to buy.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
Detroit to transform waterfront with $2.2 billion investment
Developers will convert about 18 acres of unused parking lot space into civic spaces.
HUD, USDA agree on framework to simplify housing environmental review standards
Their agreement is a requirement of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
Cost of water rising at a faster pace than inflation, median household income
California and Maryland residents have seen their water bills grow especially high.
NYC building owners overwhelmingly comply with new emissions limits
The New York City Department of Buildings is fining owners who did not file emissions reports.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
planning NEXT
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello