The Health of Cities Depends on Place-Based Development More than Big Projects

The areas most desperately in need of place-based planning tend to be outside of big cities, where metro areas are dominated by drive-only, single-use development. Yet those suburban doctrines invaded cities as well. The departments of transportation, for example, have done great damage to city streets. The default design for urban main streets in recent decades imposed lane widths appropriate for 70 mile-an-hour expressways and and treated street trees as fixed-and-hazardous objects to be removed from the right of way. This approach created many urban streets that were harsh and uncomfortable for people.

by Robert Steuteville

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