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Community Planning

From Events in the Gents to Pop Up People

February 2, 2012 by julian dobson
with 21 views
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You can imagine how people reacted. The idea of 'events in the gents' doesn't really bear thinking about.Yet the anarchic enthusiasm of a bunch of people in Hackney to bring their local high street back to life says something about the way people care about their communities - even to the point of breaking into a boarded-up public toilet... [read more]

The environmental building blocks of urban happiness

February 2, 2012 by Kaid Benfield
with 134 views
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  As regular readers may remember, I am fascinated by the relationship of our cities, and the way they are configured, to our mental and emotional well-being.  The relationship of urban form to physical health is finally getting some of the attention it deserves, but how the shape of our communities and neighborhoods affects... [read more]

Digital vs. Analog Ways of Transforming Cities

February 2, 2012 by Next American City
with 135 views
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Walkscore, a favorite civic tech app, notes that our Storefront has a decent walkscore but an unfortunate transit score.The other day I got a phone call from Josh McManus to talk about his work and Next American City’s Storefront for Urban Innovation. Josh is a Next American Vanguard who started a project called CreateHere in... [read more]

Chicago Applies NACTO Urban Bikeway Guidelines

January 30, 2012 by TheCityFix - produced by EMBARQ
with 68 views
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Last year, the National Association of City Transportation Officials released a technical guide on how to implement bike lanes in urban areas. We now see that Chicago is applying these guidelines to create safe biking paths across the city. We previously wrote about Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s commitment to providing safe and protected spaces... [read more]

Why the grid is a great asset to our cities

January 30, 2012 by Paul Knight
with 276 views
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I have heard many criticisms about the grid plan–It’s boring, It’s unnatural, et cetera. Having happily visited and lived within gridded towns and cities I have wondered why these perceptions exist. What is so wrong with straight streets? Following, I address some common fallacies in a defense for the grid. [read more]

Social media and the city

January 30, 2012 by Adam Christensen
with 305 views
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Social media provides local government with powerful and flexible tools to deliver information services through a variety of channels. Equally important, it provides unique tools for formulating policy and redefining the meaning of accountability as well. Discovery techniques based on social media are already helping local authorities to... [read more]

Can Ontario deliver the continent's best land-use plan?

January 26, 2012 by Kaid Benfield
with 206 views
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  I’m fond of saying that the best-conceived plan for managing growth and development in North America is the Places to Grow framework adopted by the province of Ontario, Canada.  Constructed pursuant to enabling legislation adopted by the province in 2005, Places to Grow addresses the future of a New Hampshire-sized region... [read more]

Has Congestion Pricing Lost its Buzz?

January 24, 2012 by This Big City
with 215 views
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It’s 2004. Despite initial resistance to the idea being fierce, London has had a congestion charge for a year, and by the most important metrics, it’s been a success. Mayor Ken Livingston has been reciting statistics to anyone who will listen, parading reductions in congestion by 30 percent and average speeds at their highest since the... [read more]

3 Requirements for Multigenerational Homes to work

January 23, 2012 by Tazmine Loomans
with 224 views
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Multigenerational living is growing like gangbusters, with babyboomers retiring and recent grads increasingly moving home. Here, what factors to pay attention to. Do you agree? [read more]

Five Ways to Kill the Inferiority Complex in Community Building

January 23, 2012 by Kristen Jeffers
with 180 views
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I think a major layer of community building is the inferiority complex. I’m seeing it again as we are preparing to welcome Trader Joes into our community. We spend too much time thinking we need to spend money on expensive stadiums and art centers to be more urbane. If we are over that demon, we bemoan not having an H&M, Shake Shack... [read more]

How Design Activists Hope to Turn Around Detroit

January 20, 2012 by the polis blog
with 140 views
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The Detroit Collaborative Design Center (DCDC) is not content with the status quo when it comes to built environment professionals — especially architects. Based at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture since 1994, it sees the production of architecture as a political act, one that supports or disrupts the actions... [read more]

Why Trees Make For Safer Streets

January 19, 2012 by Bob Leonard
with 745 views
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Urban Forestry is a growing trend in cities looking to actively clean their air and water while making streets aesthetically pleasing for pedestrians, bike riders, and drivers as well. While I could list any number of benefits trees in urban areas have been shown to produce, there was one advantage that I didn’t expect to see: safer,... [read more]