• Building a future in a corona paralysis

    How quickly we have gotten used to a world that has seemingly stopped. I was out running yesterday morning, and came across construction workers who were moving and positioning heavy equipment for a development project near the waterfront of my city. It seemed odd, and yet highly reassuring, that...Read more

  • How a brutalist building is reviving a mid-sized city

    A massive skyscraper is being renovated as a mixed-use, walkable urban center in a city that was pronounced dead not too long ago.
    Note: CNU cosponsored a Public Design Charrette in the Seneca One tower, under renovation in Buffalo, in late February. In 2007, Harvard economist Edward Glaeser wrote an article with an blunt headline that answered its own question: “Can Buffalo Ever Come Back? Probably not—and government should...Read more

  • Former airport turns into complete community

    The Mueller Airport redevelopment has charted a path to become one of the most livable, walkable places in Austin, Texas, with substantial affordable housing.
    When the first Charter Awards were announced in 2001, the Mueller Airport Reuse Plan in Austin, Texas, was among the 15 outstanding projects selected. The first shovel would hit the ground nearly a half decade later, and now the jury can take note of the community magic achieved nearly 20 years...Read more

  • Freeway teardown restores the grid

    Milwaukee's Park East Corridor, on the national stage this summer, ultimately changed how the city views itself.
    Note: The transformation of Park East in Milwaukee was a 2003 Charter Awards winner. Submissions for the 2020 Charter Awards will be open until February 3, 2020. When it comes to in-city freeways, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The Park East Freeway planners in Milwaukee during the...Read more