Back of the Envelope
The Data is In: Let the heavy lifting begin
The good news about making the redevelopment of American neighborhoods more responsive to 21st century American needs is that we seem to have a pretty good grasp on the problem: We have a lot more isolated, supersized, energy-sucking housing than we want or can afford. And we have a lot less compact, close-in, energy-efficient neighborhoods…
Read MorePublic Process and the Perils of Dismissive Engagement
“What would you like to see here?” And there it is. Perhaps the most inane question ever posed in the course of a public design process. And posed it is, constantly. “We’re doing a master plan for downtown. What would you like to see here?” It’s crazy. In one sweeping question, practitioners not only set…
Read MoreWe’re All Connected: Too bad more is not necessarily the same as better
Roughly two hundred years ago, working in a little Bavarian workshop, Samuel Soemmering created a crude device that, refined by others, would revolutionize communications for the emerging industrial age: the telegraph. A hundred years thereafter, post-Victorians began to ponder its evolution — wireless telegraphy — in which individuals would receive telegraph messages, printed out on…
Read MoreBackyard Chickens: WWI-Era Solution to Almost Everything
Over the course of the past six or eight decades, certain things have come to define, in part, our modern existence: Making a living out of your home has been increasingly restricted, especially in predominantly residential areas; the production of goods has fallen to fewer and larger hands; and we’ve now heard just about all…
Read MoreSeven Placemaking Wishes for 2013
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…
Read MoreSolid Buildings Last: A tale of public housing, reborn
Earlier this month, as Hazel mentioned in her city-as-running-buddy post last week, our travels took us to Wilmington, North Carolina, where we were doing some long-term master planning for a neighboring town. Part of that job involved a tour around the area, scoping out different models and precedents, and that’s when we stumbled into South…
Read MoreWilmington, NC: Active living and running buddies
Ever have trouble going out for a run? Know how much easier that gets when your good friend hits the road with you? Partly because you’re talking, partly because you’re just happy to see each other. This week in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina, doing some rezoning work for a community just across the river, I…
Read MoreTraditional Cities and Towns: Incubators of incompetent children
First off, before I’m assaulted by urban defenders in an all-out flame war, let me clarify that my tongue is planted firmly in cheek here. A little background: I’ve written before on the intersection between traditional / smart growth environments and child-rearing, first at the level of the neighborhood and then, later, at the level…
Read MoreNext Urbanism Lab 02: Planning trends captivate, but…
In not learning from the past we are destined to repeat it. So, in this lab, I’ll examine some of the trends currently dominating planning and begin examining the quirks and pitfalls that can occur when a solution for one city is transplanted somewhere else. In my last Next Urbanism Lab post, I detailed how…
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Creative Placemaking:
From here until now
We’ve been talking for the last few weeks about how happiness and health are generated or depleted by the way our neighbourhoods, towns, cities, and rural landscapes are developed – here, here, and here. We’ve been discussing these ideas in national terms, looking at indices and trends. During this study, I couldn’t help but reflect…
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