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A Placemaking Journal

Atlanta’s Lifelong Communities Charrette Delivers the Goods

Ben Brown
Ben Brown
Atlanta's landmark charrette on planning for "Lifelong Communities" wrapped on February 17, with an Andres Duany presentation to a downtown auditorium packed with some 500 people. A crowd of nearly 500 gathers for the closing presentation of the ARC's Lifelong Communities charrette. On February 11, the opening night... Continue Reading
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Atlanta, AARP, DPZ Attack Challenges of Aging in Place

Ben Brown
Ben Brown
The New Urbanist mantra for neighborhood planning is to go for compact, connected, and complete. Well, one critical component of completeness, that of making communities comfortable - and practical - for residents of all ages, has been sort of assumed by NU planners. Yet it's taken an effort by the nation's primary advocacy... Continue Reading
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Will Economic Woes Stall the Green Movement?

Ben Brown
Ben Brown
When we got a note from colleagues in Chattanooga, Tennessee, letting us know that that their city had not only crafted a Climate Action Plan but was also set to create a new office of sustainability, it got us to thinking: Is the competition for funding in the deepening recession going to kill momentum for this sort of... Continue Reading
Category Public Policy
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“Just Building Sprawl” is Over, But How?

Ben Brown
Ben Brown
When President Obama declared, before an audience in Ft. Myers, Florida, on Feb. 10, an end to "just building sprawl forever" (fast-forward to around 58:58 for the money quote), it may have signaled a change of venue in the battle over how the stimulus package is interpreted and applied. President Obama addresses residents... Continue Reading
Category Public Policy
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What We’re Reading: A Legal Guide to Urban and Sustainable Development

Scott Doyon
Scott Doyon Twitter Instagram Facebook
It probably won’t surprise most folks that the pursuit of more traditional (and sustainable) urban patterns is often thwarted by…  lawyers! But here’s a refreshing change: Two of them – Dan Slone and Doris Goldstein, with Andy Gowder – have just released A Legal Guide to Urban and Sustainable Development for... Continue Reading
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Preservation Through Beauty

Scott Doyon
Scott Doyon Twitter Instagram Facebook
A recent New York Times article, examining struggling efforts to preserve the architecture of the New Deal, raises an interesting question: Why do some attempts at preservation capture broad-based attention and support while others wither away as fringe acts of desperation? The answer might have a lot to do with beauty. Continue Reading
Category Architecture
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Gluttony and Glut: Finding the New Normal

Ben Brown
Ben Brown
How serious is the implosion of the once-booming urban condo market? And what does the downturn say about the prospects for housing in urban centers? A piece in the business section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution seems to say it all. Desperate to unload some units in "a stagnant market," says the sub-headline,... Continue Reading
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Stimulus Showdown

Ben Brown
Ben Brown
When the Democrats' $825 billion economic stimulus seemed to choose same-ol' over sustainable, Smart Growth advocates and New Urbanists began turning up the heat. Favoring super highways over mass transit, rail, pedestrian, and biking alternatives incentivized sprawl for decades. And isn't sprawl part of what got us in... Continue Reading
Category Public Policy
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Designing for the New Economy

Ben Brown
Ben Brown
The New Urban Guild, an association of some 60 prominent designers with New Urbanist leanings, met January 10 in Miami to formulate a strategy for creating sustainable architecture for the new American future. The Guild is determined to create a new series of building types that not only hit affordability marks but also... Continue Reading
Category Architecture
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Report from the Real Estate Front Lines

Ben Brown
Ben Brown
Vince Graham, the New Urbanist developer of the award-winning I'On TND in the Charleston metro area, has a "get real" message for home owners and realtors. Like other established New Urbanist properties, I'On has weathered the current housing slowdown better than conventional suburban projects nearby. Yet owners determined... Continue Reading
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