They keep trying to legislate it out of existence,
but nothing is as beautiful and efficient as the basic urban box.
They keep trying to legislate it out of existence,
but nothing is as beautiful and efficient as the basic urban box.
The problem isn’t that expertise is overrated. It’s that we’ve stopped demanding competence from experts.
Read my latest, onHousing: https://www.aaronlubeck.com/p/rick-cole-on-why-we-stand-up-to-the
"Cities are for the people." - Jane Jacobs
03.03.2026 05:26 — 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
There is a difference between OVERCROWDING and #DENSITY.
DENSITY is what PREVENTS:
#Overcrowding
#Displacement
#Sprawl
graphic by the great @alfred.twu
@
Earl's Court.
Mt Pleasant, SC.
Read all about it at www.aaronlubeck.com
Not progress.
Not progressive.
Today, we study why facades matter by looking at Earl's Court, one of the best executed, densest single-family detached developments ever built.
Read my latest, onHousing
🔗ViaBio!
#newurbanism #charleston #walkable #housing
A list of civic building types in #Durham that can build three ADUs, by right:
Fire/EMS Station
Water tank tower
Church, mosque, temple
Bus station
Park
Government office
School
Library
Museum
+more
This Thursday (2/26), I will be teaching a Small Scale Incremental Development Workshop in #Danville, #VA, for aspiring developers and community leaders.
register here 👉 https://buff.ly/gcQHcXX
#Community #RealEstate #housing #development #NC
You cannot legislate beauty.
20.02.2026 05:58 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0www.aaronlubeck.com/p/what-court...
20.02.2026 03:16 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Courtyard Housing promises to improve housing options in urban settings.
Ross Chapin's #PocketNeighborhood book posits that there are limits to the Scale of Sociability, beyond which communities begin to crack.
Read my latest, onHousing:
https://loom.ly/7EkwVxM
The average new home produces an average of FOUR tons of waste.
When I was restoring historic homes, our gut jobs consistently yielded TWENTY FIVE+ tons of waste.
#historicpreservation #restoration
Ironically, no one saw it coming.
16.02.2026 19:17 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0yup, pardon the confusion!
13.02.2026 15:15 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The Machine Builds THIS.
Most Southern #zoning codes restrict density to <6 homes per acre net.
At that rate of sprawl, #NorthCarolina will gobble up ~19 square miles of suburbia EVERY year.
If you are interested in the best practices for "Trail-Oriented Development," Sign up for the #CNU webinar on Feb 17, 12 pm EST.
https: https://loom.ly/ZBsGpVk
@newurbanism #urbandesign #greenways
If you care about cities or public administration, you'll want to study @urban3's work.
Here, they show expenses and revenue per parcel, providing a visual presentation of which types of development are net positive & which are net negative (cost the city money).
#urbanism FTW @strongtowns
Build More Rents Fall
#minneapolis #housing #reform
For those interested in building better places, there are few better conferences than the #Seaside Prize.
I went last year, when Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson were honored for their life's work.
Schedule and registration https://loom.ly/R6vobnw
The long-awaited Durham Rail Trail will be cool.
But it could have been so much better. Why? It lacks housing.
read my latest, onHousing:
https://www.aaronlubeck.com/p/my-take-on-the-durham-rail-trail
#railtrail #Durham #housing #urbanism #railstotrails
Are YOU part of The Starter Home Revolution?
#Durham #ExpandingHousingChoices
#zoning #reform #works #YIMBY
The highlight of last week was getting to lecture on single-stair reform at an elite architecture school and introducing "Alicia's Law" to the younguns.
#CourtyardUrbanist #SB492
Starting in 2010, demand for housing significantly outstripped demand.
America has been in deficit ever since. This is traumatic for renters, students, and young families.
That trauma is the reason the #YIMBY movement started.
via @axios
Where builder-spec modernists collide with wacky infill lots, I am an indoor cat staring out the window.
24.01.2026 05:59 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0A Citybuilding Academy would be the perfect use for the (soon-to-be-abandoned) Durham School of the Arts.
23.01.2026 14:38 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0correct
23.01.2026 14:37 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Thanks to @strongtowns.org for the republish!
23.01.2026 14:37 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
I have enjoyed getting to know Skip Gibbs in #Durham. He is an artist turned community builder, and his artwork is head and shoulders above anyone else in town.
Skip's pen shows the power of a drawing to inspire action, and he's only getting better.
Follow him on Linkedin.
Baltic Avenue won’t build itself anymore. Cities have to re-legalize it…FIRST.
read my latest, onHousing:
https://www.aaronlubeck.com/p/why-dont-we-build-on-baltic-avenue
#housing #zoning #reform #affordability #homebuilding @npr