• Hammond, Indiana, and a more walkable USA

    A film segment tells the story of an American city, its struggles, and a future revitalized by urban design.
    The video below is a segment of a larger documentary, not yet released, called Walkable USA. This film tells the compelling story of Hammond, Indiana, a rust belt city that once had a great downtown, and intends to have one again. Walkable USA - Proof of Concept from House Painter Media on Vimeo ...Read more

  • Fighting to save a troubled city

    A documentary on Youngstown, Ohio, won top prize at the Better Cities Film Festival in Detroit.
    A feature film on Youngstown, Ohio, a city that exemplifies industrial decline, won the Grand Prize Best Feature Film award in 2021 from the Better Cities Film Festival . The Place That Makes Us , honored in Detroit this week, tells the story of people who stayed in Youngstown and worked to rebuild...Read more

  • Ten political benefits of walkable places

    This is fourth in a series of articles on the advantages of building human-scale cities and towns.
    There are many benefits to building walkable places and complete neighborhoods, backed up by research and common sense. A research report called Cities Alive by Arup, a multinational engineering and design firm, enumerated 50 advantages of walkable places. This article, the fourth in a series, is...Read more

  • The power of central social districts

    Main Streets, downtown cores, and neighborhood centers play a vital social role in American communities. The argument for Central Social Districts is that this social role should be nurtured distinctly for urban centers to succeed.
    Public Square editor Robert Steuteville interviewed economic development expert N. David Milder of DANTH, Inc., on Central Social Districts. Milder wrote a paper that was recently published in the American Downtown Revitalization Review . This is Part 1 of a two-part interview. RS: What is a...Read more