Form-based codes

News and resources relating to form-based codes, the SmartCode, and other urban-oriented regulations.

Related News

Why cities are unaffordable

Cities and towns would do better to focus on more effective regulations and find ways to make them as streamlined as possible.

6 Thu, Jan 26th 2012 11:25am
Big Apple takes proactive zoning approach

New York City was the first US city to adopt zoning — in 1916. Now the city is taking the lead in making zoning a proactive tool for livability, says this report.

Sat, Jan 21st 2012 12:01pm
Regulations that promote sprawl are ebbing

The overall trend is toward a more place-based, character-based legal environment, according to one of the authors of the Codes Study.

4 Thu, Feb 2nd 2012 12:10am
As funds vanish, New England looks at how to pursue sustainability

Boosting the proportion of development along transit networks is one goal of smart growth advocates in the region.

1 Tue, Dec 6th 2011 11:40am
Shape public space first, then design the buildings

New York should learn from the Dutch, who have urban designers organize sites for the public good before the architects are called in.

Mon, Dec 5th 2011 12:03pm
Opportunity for urbanists: Occupy Wall Street

There’s tremendous capital waiting to be invested in urban real estate, but capital funds managers face a gap in experience and expertise.

1 Thu, Dec 8th 2011 1:48am
Renewable Natural Resources Foundation honors LEED-ND

CNU, NRDC, and USGBC receive Outstanding Achievement Award

Mon, Nov 28th 2011 3:46pm
Urbanism blossoming near Georgia university

A Mercer University initiative, with aid from the Knight Foundation, and a class trip to confer with Richard Florida result in “The Lofts at Mercer Village.”

Mon, Nov 28th 2011 2:42pm
2011 Sustainable Communities grants announced

Less than a week after the innovative HUD grants program was eliminated, the 2011 recipients are announced.

Mon, Nov 21st 2011 12:18pm
A 'slow growth' county shifts to smart growth

Montgomery County, Maryland, will try to encourage mixed-use development—urbanizing parts of what has been a predominantly suburban jurisdiction.

Tue, Nov 15th 2011 12:56pm
Poggibonsi and other Tuscan lessons

Codes generate new development without character, but the strength of place and traditions maintain a strong undercurrent of local life.

1 Fri, Nov 11th 2011 3:48pm
Backyard chickens: WWI-era solution to almost everything

Once promoted by the US government as an easy, self-managed balm for a host of domestic (and national) challenges, chickens are now a source of community angst.

9 Mon, Nov 28th 2011 11:44am
Critics assail Britain's new pro-sprawl policies

The Conservative-led UK government wants to encourage development in towns and rural areas, but opposition is intense.

Tue, Nov 1st 2011 11:11am
How Wall Street can transform the built environment

In order for our economy to recover, financiers need to understand the benefits of mixed-use, compact real estate development models.

2 Tue, Nov 1st 2011 11:11am
Show me the money! New bumper sticker for the new normal?

There hasn’t been a New Urbanist Council gathering for a while. Which is why a lot of pent-up anxiety — and hope — found release in Council sessions in Montgomery, Alabama.

Fri, Oct 21st 2011 9:35am
Texas suburb adopts form-based code

The City Council of South Padre Island, Texas, adopted a redevelopment plan and form-based code for the 6-mile commercial corridor along Padre Boulevard.

Wed, Oct 12th 2011 12:48pm
Help for communities pursuing smart growth

The US Environmental Protection Agency is offering communities more than one route to receiving technical assistance.

Fri, Oct 7th 2011 2:38pm
Mid-town Square in Beaufort
Thu, Sep 22nd 2011 9:25am
Project shows how to get a transit village built

Small families, rental apartments, and a right-sized central square are keys to development at Pleasant Hill in Contra Costa County, California.

Fri, Sep 16th 2011 1:13pm
Special districts: Getting all mixed up

Less compatible large format uses, such as airports and medical campuses, are starting to be included in the urban mix of some cities. 

Fri, Sep 16th 2011 9:15am
Extreme makeover: Zoning edition

With each contribution, a code can often move further and further away from its core reason for being: communicating fundamental rules to regular people.

Fri, Aug 26th 2011 9:50am
'In-law suites' meet today's needs

The trend toward adding second living units to homes is accelerating, for multiple reasons.

Thu, Aug 18th 2011 12:27pm
Award-winning codes in Livermore, California, and Lee County, Florida

This year’s winners of the Driehaus Form-Based Codes Awards are the Development Code Rewrite of Livermore, California and the Compact Communities Code of Lee County, Florida.

Wed, Jul 27th 2011 11:31am
Goooooal! Sometimes you strategize, Sometimes you ‘dump & chase’

Most of us who work with communities on form-based codes would opt for a full-blown process, but every situation is unique and sometimes you need something a bit more immediate.

1 Fri, Jul 22nd 2011 11:13am
Sprawl repair on Long Island gets a boost

Redevelopment around the Ronkonkoma railroad station in Brookhaven, New York, could "turn an unlovely place into a cool destination," The New York Times editorializes.

Tue, Jul 19th 2011 10:41am

Adopted SmartCodes


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Resources

Research

Why cities are unaffordable

Cities and towns would do better to focus on more effective regulations and find ways to make them as streamlined as possible.

6 Thu, Jan 26th 2012 11:25am
Regulations that promote sprawl are ebbing

The overall trend is toward a more place-based, character-based legal environment, according to one of the authors of the Codes Study.

4 Thu, Feb 2nd 2012 12:10am
Transit: Economic development for the 21st Century

Transit inserted into the heart of metro areas, near employment opportunities and with good planning, can help to bring us out of the economic malaise.

4 Thu, Apr 7th 2011 11:20am