PlaceMakers

Santa’s Village has always been a symbol of festive magic and joy but, with thoughtful urban design principles, it can also serve as a model for timeless community building. This is surely appropriate given Santa's stature and the fact that the typical idea of Santa's Village has some sustainability and equity challenges... Continue Reading

We'd like to help celebrate this year's Groves Award Winner! Andy Blake, City Manager for the City of Ranson, West Virginia, will receive the 2016 Groves Award, given annually by the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Transect Codes Council to recognize outstanding leadership and vision in the promotion of Transect-based... Continue Reading

Having just wrapped up what may have been our favorite CNU ever, in Dallas on April 29 through May 2, we want to share some of the ideas that resonated the most with us. The topics below are snippets of great insights from many voices, including the likes of Andrés Duany, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, Doug Farr, and... Continue Reading

We're happy when we go for a run. We're even more happy when we go for a run in a gorilla suit -- at least according to Roko Belic, director of the award-winning documentary, HAPPY. That’s because some change is gonna do ya good. Which is one of the many reasons that we placemakers advocate for immersive... Continue Reading

The 22nd annual gathering of the CNU wrapped up Saturday night, June 7, in Buffalo. We’re looking forward to the recordings at cnu.org over the next few weeks to fill the inevitable gaps, since the competing sessions and hallway conversations presented the usual embarrassment of riches. Rather than go for a tidy... Continue Reading

Git ‘Er Done | Hazel BorysThis year's CNU was all about doing again, unlike the past few years where we've focused on stop-gap measures to redirect our investment choices to more resilient patterns. Looks like they might be starting to pay off. Still, we have plenty of hard work ahead to remove both legal... Continue Reading

With the dawning of 2013, the interwebs are awash in lists detailing exactly what to watch out for in the coming year and, in a way, this is one more of those. But not exactly. Though firmly rooted in placemaking trends that have gained notable traction over the past year, this list contains not so much what we’re... Continue Reading

PlaceShakers gets put on ice this week as we, together with most of the urbanists we know, head to West Palm Beach, Florida, for CNU 20: The New World, this year's installment of the annual Congress for the New Urbanism. Will you be there? As summarized by the CNU, "The New World confronts the challenges of peak oil,... Continue Reading