How can governments leave behind the traditional model of the “bedroom suburb” in favor of more diverse, connected, mixed-use communities? 

Increasingly, leaders and planners in the suburbs realize that long-term financial success depends on a diverse mix of people, places, ages, and cultures. The majority of neighborhoods in some municipalities are automobile dependent, so leaders need a step-by-step process to retrofit drive-only landscapes for quality of life and the human-scale.

For many projects, the difference between success and failure is political leadership and a project champion. While there is no “one size fits all” strategy for managing this arena, there are common lessons that can be gleaned from some communities’ successes and failures.