A PlaceMaking Journal

Over the past two decades, Decatur, Georgia, has met many of their smart growth objectives -- mixed-use buildings fronting walkable sidewalks, consistent streetscape standards, and the like -- through a careful manipulation of their Euclidean zoning code. Largely successful, these efforts have fostered considerable downtown... Continue Reading

In 1989, the City of Calgary annexed the area now known as the Providence community. A “dog-leg” of land in the City’s southwest quadrant, it presented unique opportunities for a more sustainable approach to development than the typical automobile-focused expansion of the city. (more…) Continue Reading

The Third Avenue Streetscape Master Plan is a city redevelopment project to revitalize and improve the pedestrian experience on Chula Vista's historic Main Street, Third Avenue. (more…) Continue Reading

Having attracted $6 million in grants and loans from three federal agencies, HUD, EPA and DOT, the city of Ranson, West Virginia, contracted with an international team of consultants for Transect-based planning. With the EPA money, the planning partners designed proposals for re-purposing six brownfield sites for new businesses. Continue Reading

With the rapidly-approaching opening of a new I-575 interchange, growth is coming to Woodstock, Georgia's Ridgewalk Parkway. That much we can count on, as multiple parcels are poised to build out. But how? Envision Ridgewalk Village was an opportunity for everyone, residents and business interests alike, to help shape what’s... Continue Reading

Honokohau Village offers up a whole new way of planning for the County of Hawai'i Planning Department, the focus of which is an 80-acre TOD in Kona that includes the new West Hawai'i Civic Center. But the broader aim is educational. (more…) Continue Reading

A commuter suburb of Spokane, Washington, with emerging employment and a growing retiree population, Post Falls, Idaho, had experienced an increasingly common scenario: rapid, unfocused growth, and the public discontent that results. In response, the city engaged PlaceMakers to help foster “sensible growth, real neighborhoods,... Continue Reading

Developer Herb Freeman’s home, a Georgian mansion that sits in the geographic center of his 160 acres, inspired the design for Leytham, a traditional neighborhood development just outside Omaha, Nebraska. Directing all facets, PlaceMakers delivered master planning, regulatory codes, charrette communications, implementation... Continue Reading

Unlike many — if not most — American cities, Lawrence, Kansas, has a vibrant, intact downtown. The fringes of the city, however, had been under increasing development pressure in recent years, leading local officials to undertake an intense planning and coding process to manage developing sprawl. They turned to the... Continue Reading

Fitchburg has the unique advantage of lying between the time-tested urbanity of Madison and the inspiring landscape of the agrarian countryside. Citizens have access to either in a matter of minutes. But what’s missing in its current array of suburban housing and commercial areas is the appeal and practical performance... Continue Reading