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Houses, no matter how small, could fit the coast
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New Urban News Article with images, 1/12/2005
Designs from less than 300 square feet on up aim to reinforce South Mississippi’s character.
The Gulf Coast of Mississippi needs to gird itself against a flood of mass-produced houses that have little in common with the homes built in the region over the past two centuries. So said many of the participants in the Mississippi Renewal Forum as they went about creating dozens of designs that would strengthen the established — and now endangered — character of the coastal communities.

How to build production housing in a TND
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New Urban News Article with images, 4/1/2004
Developer John Anderson calls it the “little black dress, blue blazer solution.” If certain elements of a house and street are right, “it will forgive all kinds of other things.” Key elements of relatively affordable production housing include details of windows and porches, private sideyards and backyards, colors, walkable streetscapes, efficient use of materials and land, and interior design.

Factory-built housing: an answer to affordability questions?
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New Urban News Article with images, 9/1/2004
The potential grows for using manufactured and modular units in new urban developments.
In 1991 a new urban plan called Rosa Vista was created for a manufactured home community in Mesa, Arizona. That plan, by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ), was never built, largely because no manufacturer could be found that would meet the design code. But over the last decade, the factory-built housing industry has evolved in ways that should encourage new urbanists to think seriously about this type of construction. Among the changes cited by experts:

Surviving the market turmoil
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New Urban News Article with images, 4/1/2008
Developers are adapting to the tough economy by cutting costs and using the flexibility inherent in Transect-based plans.
The housing industry is facing a “perfect storm” — the result of a combination of overbuilding, a credit crisis, and the bursting of a speculative bubble, according to Todd Zimmerman of Zimmerman/Volk Associates.

Vinyl makers push for New Urbanism market
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New Urban News Article with images, table, sidebar, 3/1/2008
Industry campaign boasts improved color and variety, but critics link vinyl to dioxin and environmental harm.
In the past ten months, the Vinyl Siding Institute has co-sponsored a Seaside Institute program in Atlanta, a SmartCode seminar in Miami, and a tour during CNU’s annual convention in Philadelphia.

The right detail for the right price
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New Urban News Article with images, 9/1/2007
How to get authentic-looking traditional details is one problem that new urbanists have been trying to solve, with mixed success, for two decades. Building affordable housing is another. These two goals are sometimes in conflict, but they needn’t be, according to Donald Powers of Donald Powers Architects in Providence, Rhode Island.

Building
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Chapter 17 of the New Urbanism Best Practices Guide
Wherever buildings are experienced up close at a walking pace, the details of the buildings become extremely important. Yet much of today’s world is built through high-production methods, and builders have a hard time getting architectural details right. This chapter looks at how to build in a pleasing way, attentive to the methods and materials currently available. The design process in most traditional neighborhood developments begins with thorough research of the local vernacular. Designers and builders can learn from the relative simplicity of forms in many old houses; massing is most effective when it is not unduly complicated.

Fighting for good, affordable neighborhoods
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New Urban News Article with images, 4/1/2007
The design process for new urban military housing is revealed — with important lessons for how to cut costs without compromising principles.