Developers have a lot to gain by suburban retrofit, and many are jumping in at all scales—when they get support from municipalities. Ensuring that small builders and developers can participate is a challenge. Building codes—especially sprinkler requirements—can kill a small, infill mixed-use building. In order to create urbanism, the ground has to be prepared. Build a Better Burb shows examples and best practices for developments that provide homes for a range of incomes, financing to pay for walkable street network improvements, and ways to draw from local visioning and planning to create suburbs people are drawn to.
Individuals are more likely to be active in a community designed around their needs.
One development has expanded walkable development and inspired the planning of a bus rapid transit line.
The American suburbs are the next fertile ground for architectural and urban experimentation.
A struggling retailer sees opportunities to improve shopping experience by activating empty parking lots.
The Parkmerced Vision redevelopment plan will heal the site’s ecology.
Twenty-one subsidized units has created controversy in Norton Commons, a walkable new town near Louisville.
Towns, sometimes miles apart, adopt starkly different strategies.
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