Your view on the urban investment of today may depend on where you crop the storyline.

Writing about successful neighborhood planning, my friend and colleague Howard Blackson used the term “placeshaker” as a catch-all for the grass roots engagement efforts that empower, but don’t necessarily define, placemaking. That got me thinking...

Today, many hundreds of the city’s horse rings are adorned with small horses and the like, placed by countless, random individuals playing their own small role in something larger than themselves.