Tag: PlaceMakers

A recent post over on Comstock's reignited consideration of the word "placemaking," sparking some of our own thoughts on the matter. Given that we as a firm have officially been "placemakers" (on legal documents and everything!) since 2003, we unsurprisingly have our own thoughts on what this rather ill-defined word... 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

It's that time of year again, fellow urbanists. The Congress for the New Urbanism, perhaps the country's most comprehensive gathering of city planners, city builders and city lovers. This year, the 21st, is themed Living Community which, according to organizers, "balances the demands of physical, social, economic, and... Continue Reading

Over the weekend, I had a Twitter exchange with Mitchell Silver and Steve Mouzon about a PlaceMakers concept that I’m feeling the need to explain in more detail. Return on No Investment – my new friend, RONI – is the whole idea of leveraging assets and connections that are already in place, while investing... Continue Reading

Last October, I wrote a piece commemorating a PlaceShakers milestone -- 100,000 reads -- which took us 32 months to amass. Today, I write to mark our next one: 200,000. This time, it took less than 8 months. Clearly something is up. If reads are increasing, that means interest is increasing. If interest is increasing,... Continue Reading

Sometime today or over the next few, Placeshakers and Newsmakers will cross a notable (for us) threshold: 100,000 reads. Not that 100,000 is altogether different from 90,000 or 80,000 but it does make for a nice round opportunity to reflect on what we’ve been doing here and how its evolution has surprised us. As many... Continue Reading

One of the greatest selling points of the SmartCode, the DPZ-created version of a form-based unified development ordinance, has always been its customize-ability. First of all, it’s Transect-based, which immediately separates it from conventional codes that stamp out the same rules for development everywhere in the landscape. Continue Reading