Walkable urban places (WalkUPs) have sprouted up in all 30 of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas and increasingly are sought after, supported and promoted by businesses and the public and for good reason. These metro areas, which host 619 regionally significant WalkUPs, attract a well-educated and wealthy workforce and command higher business and residential rents […]
“When listeners become leaders, the world changes.” –Rev. Kellen Roggenbuck Traditionally, U.S. cities and towns are planned and designed by urban planners, architects and local government officials without much input from future or even current residents. The approach is a prescriptive one that is designed to regulate — and at its worst, dictate — where […]
What type of community do you want to live in once you reach retirement age? Although many seniors have opted in the past to move to warm-weather locations or retirement villages, an increasing number are not interested in relocating. According to a 2014 report by AARP, a national nonprofit organization that seeks to improve people’s […]
Last June, FBCI presented the 2016 Driehaus Form-Based Code Award to Delray Beach, Fla., and Lacey, Wash., and gave honorable mention to Thompson’s Landing, Tenn., to acknowledge their development, adoption and implementation of innovative and effective form-based codes. This year’s honorees represent a diverse group of communities. One is a beach town that […]
The toolkit promotes urban zoning reform to increase and diversify housing availability The toolkit, which the White House released in late September, calls for the development of “high-density and multifamily zoning,” “streamlining or shortening permitting processes and timelines,” and allowing “by-right development,” all of which are in line with elements t of form-based codes. The […]
“Form-based codes aren’t cheap. If we keep the existing zoning map and add some building-form standards, we’d be almost there.” Some planning directors have had these hopeful thoughts when deciding whether to pursue a form-based code. The question acknowledges the need to make changes to zoning, but naively hopes for simple tweaks. Zoning that effectively […]
CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE, FL DIRECTOR OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT The City of Fort Lauderdale is the seventh largest city in Florida and the largest of Broward County’s 31 municipalities. The City prides itself on its collaborative working relationships within the community and has been ranked as one of the nation’s best cities in a variety […]
Greetings! I’m pleased to update you on some changes at FBCI over the past few months. We moved our headquarters from Chicago to Washington, D.C. and brought on some new board members. We’ve also welcomed aboard Marta Goldsmith as FBCI’s new Executive Director. Marta, who has a strong urban planning background, will run the Institute’s […]
Chattanooga’s form-based code is part of an innovative vision for the city’s economic, environmental and cultural future. Following a recent visit to Chattanooga, Bruce Katz wrote in a Brookings Institute blog, “Something special is happening in Chattanooga.” As Katz points out, too often venture capitalists “pay too little attention to small and mid-sized cities with […]
A new guidebook, Placemaking as an Economic Development Tool, has been published by The Land Policy Institute at Michigan State University in collaboration with the MIplaceTM Partnership Initiative. The book, which is available for download free of charge, is designed to help communities understand how effective community and economic development can be enhanced through effective […]
Keith CovingtonKeith Covington is Principal of the Third Coast Design Studio. As a registered architect, he brings over 20 years of professional experience…more
FBCI Holds Symposium to Explore “Urban Form as a Framework for Healthy Communities ”
“I have two doctors: my left foot and my right foot.” — G. M. Trevelyan Medical breakthroughs such as new vaccines, therapeutic drugs, surgical procedures and early detection screenings have improved treatment of many illness and injuries. But less attention has been paid to finding ways to prevent the development of avoidable health problems and […]
New FBC a Big Win for Winooski
Winooski, a small city in northwestern Vermont that sits at the mouth of the Winooski River, tends to be overshadowed by its far larger and more populous neighbors, Burlington, South Burlington and Colchester. However, the positive effects of the form-based code (FBC) Winooski began implementing in 2015, is helping it to become one of the […]
From Desert to Oasis: Transformative FBC Will Help Turn a “Big Blank Piece of Sand” Into a Diverse, Attractive Community
At the Congress for the New Urbanism’s (CNU) Charter Awards Ceremony in Seattle on May 5, the Form-Based Codes Institute (FBCI) announced that Palm Desert, Calif., and Nashville, Tenn., had received the 2017 Driehaus Form-Based Codes Award for their implementation of innovative and effective codes. The Driehaus Form-Based Codes Award is sponsored by FBCI with […]
City of Marquette Modern Land Development Code
The City of Marquette (City) requests the submission of proposals from land use planning consulting firms to prepare a major update to our land use ordinances (Zoning, Sign, Fence, and Subdivision), with the goal of combining them into one Modern Land Development Code document. Firms replying should have demonstrated ability in land use ordinance revisions […]
FBCI Symposium Will Explore How Cities Can Be Redeveloped to Improve Public Health
Most of us know that a healthy lifestyle involves eating high-quality, nutritious food, getting regular exercise and plenty of rest, reducing stress and living in surroundings that lift the spirits. Unfortunately, typical American lifestyles often make it logistically — and in some cases, financially — difficult to maintain such a lifestyle. Many of us spend […]
FBCI Holds Symposium to Explore “Urban Form as a Framework for Healthy Communities ”
“I have two doctors: my left foot and my right foot.” — G. M. Trevelyan …
New FBC a Big Win for Winooski
Winooski, a small city in northwestern Vermont that sits at the mouth of the Winooski …
At the Congress for the New Urbanism’s (CNU) Charter Awards Ceremony in Seattle on May …
FBCI Staff
Scott Mann
landscape architects
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