• South Main gets the recognition it deserves

    The unique Colorado mountain community has had its difficulties, including an attack from an online magazine, but the latest recognition highlights how much the designers and developers have gotten right.
    The Urban Guild announced its 2022 design awards , including one for Excellence to the Surf Hotel in South Main, Bueva Vista, Colorado, designed by Craft Design Studio. I first reported on South Main in Buena Vista, Colorado, 18 years ago—when a young brother and sister duo set out to build a...Read more

  • Twelve ways to achieve authenticity in community design

    Authenticity seems impossible today, with places and buildings that look like they could be anywhere, lacking harmony with nature and local culture. But designers can achieve authenticity through effective principles, and a dozen of them are listed here.
    Some sources of authenticity in the built environment are obvious, beginning with integrity. Is the design true to itself, and without obvious internal contradictions? Places and buildings with integrity tend to bring more joy than those laden with conflict. Is the design appropriate to the region...Read more

  • Eye-opening video shows church site reuse

    Creating intimate spaces within blocks could be the answer for some underutilized house of worship sites—as shown by a plan for catholic churches in a midwestern city.
    The US is facing a tremendous and growing number of church properties that are in need of better utilization or reuse . A plan and video for two catholic churches in South Bend, Indiana, shows how such properties might enable new urban placemaking of a high order while preserving the houses of...Read more

  • Revitalization begins with cloverleaf demolition plan

    In the City of South Bend, getting rid of absurdly failed highway infrastructure may be the key to revitalizing a district. The federal government is betting $2.4 million on it.
    In terms of failed urban renewal infrastructure, it would be hard to find a more absurd example than the Eddy Street cloverleafs in the Farmers Market District of South Bend, Indiana. These ramps on both sides of the St. Joseph River were completed in 1963 to carry traffic to and from a Studebaker...Read more