• Community types and growth in the post-Covid era

    The scale and form of communities—and avoiding sprawl—will play critical roles in their long-term resilience.
    Cities and towns across the US and abroad are in financial crisis due to the pandemic, and some of the income generators on which they depended in recent decades may be permanently broken, but there are certain fundamentals of community survival and growth which are likely to continue long past...Read more

  • The powerful virtuous cycles of street trees

    There are several powerful virtuous cycles of street trees that benefit so many parts of the built environment and the people who inhabit it in ways we may not have thought about until now. This post daylights the multitude of benefits—some of which are life-changing. And from 2020 onward, as we...Read more

  • The magic of urban trees

    In a city like Seattle, more than 100,000 trees could be planted at intersections alone. These trees would provide enormous psychological, social, environmental, and economic benefit.
    We are hard-wired to love trees, ever since we looked out from their dappled light for predator and prey on the edge of the African Savanna millions of years ago. It’s now a timely love affair as we wage war against our greatest challenge – climate change. Here’s a list of the numerous benefits of...Read more

  • Riverfront visions transforming the Twin Cities

    The Mississippi River is an armature for economic development and public space in Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The future of both cities, and the goal of equitable development, are tied to the riverfront.
    Both Saint Paul and Minneapolis are river cities, linked historically to mills and barge traffic on the Mississippi, and they are reclaiming a significant portion of the riverfront for public space and economic development. Most of the public space in both cities is on the Mississippi or waterways...Read more