A PlaceMaking Journal

Demonstration is a powerful thing, as the Norton Commons property illustrates nicely. Purchased in the 1930s by the Norton family, it was first used to demonstrate cutting-edge agricultural techniques to local farmers. Today, a group of developers — in partnership with the family and guided by a DPZ master plan — are... 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

The Mississippi Renewal Forum was perhaps the largest charrette in history and included urbanists from across the country and around the world. Among them were PlaceMakers Susan Henderson, who led the Architectural Team, Howard Blackson and Geoff Dyer, urban designers, and Scott Doyon and Ben Brown, who ran the charrette’s... 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

Charles B. Rice grew up in Early County, Georgia, and moved away to make his fortune. Upon returning, he was struck by the downtrodden state of the county, and undertook a 50-year visioning effort to turn things around. Recognizing the expansive scope of his challenge, he engaged PlaceMakers to facilitate an economic development... Continue Reading

Hedgewood may have started as a small, independent homebuilder competing on the basis of quality and architectural distinction, but such modest days were short-lived. Over the course of twenty years, the principles that drove their early success fueled an evolution into one of the Southeast’s most admired builders of... Continue Reading