• The Pandemic Toolkit

    A manual for rebuilding community health and opportunity in the post-COVID world.
    Faced with budget shortfalls, growing to-do lists for routine tasks delayed by the emergency, and general uncertainty about a “new normal,” how might governments address the uncertainty and respond effectively to COVID challenges? Answering that question is the goal of Placemakers' Pandemic Toolkit...Read more

  • A timeless alternative for housing the elderly

    COVID-19 has exposed problems with the US long-term care model of nursing homes. About 40 percent of total COVID deaths in the US have occurred in nursing homes. Residents have been subject to severe isolation in 2020—visiting such facilities has been difficult and sometimes impossible during the...Read more

  • New urban design in the post-pandemic era

    Cities and towns are facing a new reality, according to one of the founders of CNU. This calls for new designs that violate some of the long-held design doctrines of New Urbanism—but have the same social intention.
    The pandemic jeopardizes many of the core concepts of New Urbanism, according to architect and urbanist Andres Duany. People are now suspicious of density, transit, face-to-face retail, social “third places,” open communities, and in-person community engagement, says Duany, who spoke in CNU’s...Read more

  • Dallas trail system; infrastructure for health

    Dallas is implementing a trail system that could make a big difference in the quality of life and health in this major city. The Loop Trail is a 50-mile trail system that is nearly half built, and the rest is funded or planned, creating a loop around Dallas. The system was first conceived in 2014,...Read more