• Gentrication from a wider time frame

    Gentrification examined from a wider time frame

    Your view on the urban investment of today may depend on where you crop the storyline.
    They may not be new but I was recently introduced to a series of comics by English artist Grayson Perry taking on the world of creative arts, particularly one entitled “Gentrification.” The tale is familiar. Old industry fades, artists take possession of the infrastructure, ragtag commerce blossoms...Read more

  • Yesterday a danger zone—today, pure San Francisco

    The Choice Neighborhoods development brings order to a city sector laid out in squiggly postwar cul-de-sacs. Newly redesigned streets lead directly to shops, transit, and other services.
    By any measure, San Francisco ranks among the world’s most beautiful cities. Yet for years, in a sector that tourists never see, 50 barracks-style buildings constructed in 1943 housed 264 families in poverty and fear. Now, a new project is helping the community at Hunters View write a brighter...Read more

  • Great idea: Lean Urbanism

    Lean Urbanism seeks to bring common sense back into the planning and development process—because great neighborhoods are built with many hands, often in small increments.
    In celebration of the 25th Congress for the New Urbanism , Public Square is running the series 25 Great Ideas of the New Urbanism. These ideas have been shaped by new urbanists and continue to influence cities, towns, and suburbs. The series is meant to inspire and challenge those working toward...Read more

  • Urban planning can’t happen without black people in the room—Yet it does

    Note: Charles Ellison spoke at CNU 25 in Seattle as part of a panel on Combating the Suburbanization of Poverty. Sit at the tables where people are deciding where the new high school will go, or whether to expand the bus depot, and you’ll probably need to ask, “Where are all the people of color?”...Read more