Kaid Benfield

Next time you open the website of a smart growth organization, take a look at the images it features. Chances are you’ll see at least one older neighborhood street with a variety of businesses and/or homes in small to medium-sized buildings. That’s partly because such scenes contain some of the key attributes — such... Continue Reading

Okay, I’ve seen enough vacant storefronts and closed stores. Is it time for city leaders and planners to adjust our expectations and planning precepts about traditional retail? What’s happening to retail?For example, my wife Sharon and I visited San Francisco last month. We stayed near Union Square, once that city’s... Continue Reading

I’ve become obsessed with the size of personal vehicles, and I’m pretty sure it’s driving my wife crazy.  Every time we take a walk, run an errand, or find ourselves in a parking facility, I can’t help myself from commenting constantly about the enormous size of many newer cars, trucks, and especially SUVs... Continue Reading

Most people who know my work expect the writing I do in this space, as well as my speaking, to focus on what we should be doing to create and sustain greener, healthier communities. Don’t worry, that’s eventually where this particular piece of writing is going. I can’t help myself when it comes to that subject. But... Continue Reading

If you are involved in the world of city and neighborhood design, you probably know (or at least have heard of) the work of urban thinker, writer, lecturer, and city planner Jeff Speck. He has authored or coauthored a number of books in the field, my personal favorite being The Smart Growth Manual (2010, coauthored... Continue Reading

Most of us, most of the time, don’t make much connection between place – the neighborhoods where we live, work, and play – and our health. Not unless we’re thinking of such obvious local health concerns as an outbreak of infectious disease in the community, serious levels of pollution or toxicity nearby, or... Continue Reading

In 2001, a new book came out with my name (and those of two colleagues) on the cover.  It was a book of case studies of smart-growth alternatives to suburban sprawl, divided into three categories:  urban development, suburban development, and conservation initiatives.  I mention the book here not (well,... Continue Reading

Originally published almost four years ago and every bit as relevant today. I have spent most of the last twenty years working on an agenda grounded in, for lack of a better phrase, “smart growth.”  That agenda basically holds that our regions must replace suburban sprawl with more compact forms of growth and... Continue Reading

If someone asks what a green community, or a healthy one, means to you, what comes to mind? I’m willing to bet that for most people it is the visible and tangible aspects: a lovely city park, perhaps, or mature street trees, or bicycle lanes on a city street. If you’re a bit more wonky, you might also think of access... Continue Reading

Cities need nature, as I've written in an earlier essay. But what is not so well understood is that nature also needs cities. There is simply no way we can protect and maintain a beautiful, thriving, natural and rural landscape outside of cities if we continue to spread highways and suburban sprawl across... Continue Reading