Articles
TagWet Boundary: How the Flint River Defined Atlanta
2021 marks an important anniversary for Atlanta. It’s been two hundred years since the 1821 Treaty of Indian Springs in which the Creek Na..
A Brief History of Street Grids in America
The grid has been used continuously throughout the world as a development pattern since Hippodamus first used it in Piraeus, Greece, in th..
Master Street Plans
There is no great city in the world that isn’t made up of a highly connected network of streets. In fact this is the first thing that all ..
A Two-Sentence Subdivision Ordinance
In 1926 the United States created a legal precedent for zoning our cities, through the decision in the Euclid v. Ambler case. This was fur..
Why Block Size Matters
The size of a block is an interesting issue because it has a significant impact on both the internal workings of the block itself (the abi..
Open Space: Good or Bad for Cities?
In the middle of the 19th century cities were expanding, and in most cases they were doing this in the absence of sensible ways to address..
Sustainable Framework
For 2500 years, at least, we have been planning cities that are incredibly sustainable. Since the very first cities were planned (up unti..
Benefits of the Grid
During the Great American Grid Debate at CNU 21, Kevin Klinkenberg and I sparred valiantly together to defend the grid’s honor against our..
Fallacies Against the Grid
I have heard many criticisms about the grid plan–It’s boring, It’s unnatural, et cetera. Having happily visited and lived within gridded t..
Visiting the Greatest Grid
The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011 is an exhibit on display at the Museum of the City of New York through April 15..