Are we doing enough to create good cities and urbanism? Due to property rights, we cannot always control exactly what is built on private land, but we can certainly have a say in the ever-so-important public realm. An article earlier this month entitled Treasuring Urban Oases, featuring renowned urbanist Alexander Garvin, as well as examples in my own Minneapolis, would suggest that we are not doing enough in this respect. Garvin’s premise is we should reverse our process, thinking first about the design of public space and then private development. Garvin suggests that New York is not unlike other cities…

The proposed streetcar took a huge step forward last week, according to the UrbanCincy website. Rustwire pointed out the challenges and obstacles overcome to get to this point. And I’m glad, because the city deserves it. And most of all, this new transportation improvement will complement some land use improvements to the city, the way land use and transit should relate. The streetcar will connect the downtown and riverfront (The Banks) to the emerging Over-the-Rhine/Gateway Quarter district, renovated Washington Park, Music Hall, the Findlay Market and eventually Uptown and the University of Cincinnati. Connecting employment, entertainment and emerging housing opportunities…

John Norquist, president and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism, wrote a recent piece in the Atlantic Cities entitled The Case for Congestion. In it, he sensibly explains that cities must recognize that traffic and congestion are often a sign of dynamism, and by moving traffic too well, cities often drive out economic potential that “good congestion” provides. Most of all, he argues that it’s time to retire the highway in an urban context – I couldn’t agree more. Norquist has long argued that, like good and bad cholesterol, there is such thing as good and bad congestion.…

Major grocers are increasingly finding ways to open stores in urban neighborhoods (see my ULI article from May, 2011), but it isn’t easy. As was presented at Developing Walkable Urban Groceries in Mixed-Use Environments at the ULI Fall Meeting, getting the design of the grocery store right, while accommodating residential units on the site at the same time is particularly daunting. This session was moderated by Neal Payton, principal at Torti-Gallas Partners, which has significant experience designing mixed-use urban grocery projects. It featured John Given, principal of the CIM Group, a developer of mixed-use urban grocery projects, and Donald Wright,…

There is an opportunity to create a more humane, livable Hiawatha Avenue, and, to try out a metaphor, now may be the time to step out in to the intersection and begin our journey across. Hiawatha Avenue should become an urban boulevard that unites neighborhoods rather than divides them, particularly near light rail stations where pedestrian counts have steadily increased since light rail service began and development continues to occur. What’s nice is I’m not the only one who believes this. As part of the Minnehaha-Hiawatha Community Works program, Hennepin County has identified several potential improvements to the area around…