Street Grid

Bastrop, a fast-growing city located north of Austin, is plotting growth on a street grid.

November 17, 2019 - Public Square: A CNU Journal

Many rational, open grids can seem like a labyrinth to users. The labyrinth has emerged as an unplanned consequence of the evolution of cities, but solutions like GPS navigation and autonomous vehicles could mean relief.

January 10, 2018 - Fanis Grammenos

Researchers at Harvard University have looked at multiple street grids around the country to identify what block size is the perfect length for walkability.

January 25, 2017 - The Harvard Gazette

An analysis of three essential attributes of urban grids reveals a preferred layout for the desired effect of a vibrant, active community.

December 20, 2016 - Fanis Grammenos

Georgetown's grid of small blocks is starkly different from the L'Enfant-designed city that surrounds it.

June 13, 2016 - Greater Greater Washington

Edward Brennan waged an extended turn-of-the-century campaign to clean up Chicago's then-confusing address numbering system. Though few recognize his name, Brennan's legacy lives on in modern Chicago.

June 19, 2015 - WBEZ

Successful driverless cars might lead to "mini mass transit," a distinct mode from public transit and the private automobile. The consequences for land use could reshape suburbia.

March 8, 2015 - The Greater Marin

A recent nextSTL.com editorial makes an impassioned plea to open the city’s closed streets.

April 11, 2014 - nextSTL.com

When Civic Arena was built in the late 1950's, it severed Pittsburgh's historic Hill District from Downtown, displacing thousands of African American families and businesses. A redevelopment being proposed for the site aims to re-establish the link.

July 8, 2013 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In a challenge to the wishes of the state DOT, a group of citizens has successfully campaigned for the addition of an alternative to restore the downtown street grid in place of a high-speed boulevard in Oklahoma City.

June 29, 2013 - DC Streetsblog

After the World Trade Center attacks, planners, neighbors, and Mayor Bloomberg supported reweaving the site into the city's street grid, in the process undoing "a painful planning error of the 1960s." Security concerns seem to have won out, however.

May 17, 2013 - The New York Times

Seattle is a city of grids (plural). Downtown, alone, contains three, making for some pretty interesting transportation challenges. Some argue it's simply part of what makes the city livable.

September 20, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Jeremy Rosenberg examines why Thomas Jefferson may have had more of an impact on the development of Los Angeles than you might suspect. The city's street grid can be traced back to this American founding father.

July 13, 2012 - KCET

Your streets could be killing you -- or at least making it harder for emergency services to reach you in times of need.

May 17, 2011 - Medill National Security Zone

The original layout of New York's street grid took advantage of the natural elements like light, wind and good soil to effectively encourage greenery in the city. Alec Applebaum says the city could do well to hearken back to the original plans.

April 18, 2011 - The New York Times