Caitlin Ghoshal's blog

Students for the New Urbanism at Arizona State University placed wayfinding signs in the Mill Avenue Districts located in downtown Tempe. The group formed in fall 2012 and has attracted both graduate and undergraduate students from urban planning, environmental science, landscape architecture. According to member Daniel Barusch, “The benefit for us is we’re not just on here going to classes, doing boring student stuff,” he said.

LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors will host an online webinar to discuss the Environmental Protection Agency's forthcoming regulations on stormwater management. The webinar features Nancy Stoner, Acting Assistant Administrator of the EPA's Water Office, who will discuss the forthcoming proposal and answer questions. This event is free but registration is required.

The webinar will be held on May 1 at 1 PM EDT. More details and registration is located here.

The Niagara Gorge Rim is home to miles of stunning scenery and breathtaking natural features, attracting millions of visitors each year. Only there’s one thing in the way of the view: a freeway.

Free and open to the public. RSVP by clicking here.

In a special Fireside Chat with John Norquist, Chuck Marohn gives listeners a special preview to CNU 21. Marohn is Executive Director of Strong Towns, the host of the "Curbside Chat" podcast, and author of Thoughts on Building Strong Towns (Volume 1). Through his work with Strong Towns, Marohn has been exposing the "ponzi scheme of sprawl" by exploring the connection between land use and finance.

Re-Thinking Our Streets: The Value of Flexible Street Design with John Norquist

Free and open to the public.

The event will be held on Thursday, November 29, 2012 starting with a 6 PM reception followed by a 6:30 PM lecture and discussion. Event will be held at Steinberg Hall Auditorium at Washington University at Forsyth Blvd and N Skinker Blvd, St. Louis, MO. The nearest Metrolink Station is Skinker.

Space is limited. Please click here to RSVP.

A recent article in the Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine documents the transformation of Claiborne Avenue from a "mid-20th century linear park" to an elevated, limited access freeway. Author John T. Magill delves into the history of the avenue to show how its construction into a highway opened up the eyes of residents to freeways' devastation on the urban fabric. One resident wrote in 1967: "New Orleans must not become a hell of ugliness, a dead city, like that civic blight on N. Claiborne.

CNU's John Norquist moderated the "Urban Freeways: Devastation and Opportunity" panel at CNU 20 in West Palm Beach this year. Panelists included Mayor John DeStefano, Jr., Tony Garcia, and Alison Richardson. Richardson, landscape architect, discussed the often forgotten parks in Boston's Big Dig, Garcia tackled the socioeconomic consequences of Miami's Overtown Expressway, and Mayor DeStefano talked about New Haven's current plans for Route 34. You can view this session below:

On Thursday, May 10, a group of CNU 20 attendees gathered to discuss the topic, “Local Government and New Urbanism.” The group responded to Peter Katz's call for greater congruence between local government planning departments and the New Urbanism. Katz related his own past frustration as a New Urbanist inside local planning departments, which gave lip service to New Urbanism's physically-based approach, but for the most part, defaulted to more abstract, use-based policy recommendations.