Hazel Borys

Preservationists are all about preserving our past. Urbanists are all about harvesting lessons from what the preservationists fight for -- to create better places in the future. Seems like these two groups would get along quite well. But no.

Industrial uses have long been banished to the edges -- but recently savvy cities are seeing the value of making them walkable again.

Half of the US population lives in coastal areas, but 100% of the population foots a portion of the insurance bill. And as storm event strength is trending upward with global warming, the inlanders are getting less excited about that payment stream.

Planners, architects, and urban designers talk the talk and walk the walk, but often in a cone of silence, unheard - or at least not understood -- by those outside the profession, says Scott Doyon.

They've been tough to build, thanks to a market skewed towards suburban-style houses via tax, infrastructure, mortgage, and land value subsidies, says Ben Brown. But six years after the storm, Katrina Cottages offer some hard-won solutions.