• Street trees are essential for Walk Appeal

    Trees should be planted either in swales (on primarily residentail streets) or in tree wells (on Main Streets). Do not listen to “urban foresters,” who insist that trees must be planted in landscape beds large enough for their mature drip lines.
    Street trees are essential for strong Walk Appeal almost anywhere in the US, which makes them a fundamental part of the public frontage, which extends from the property line to the edge of the street. We’ll talk about other public frontage parts later, but street trees are so important that they...Read more

  • A tale of two futures

    Urbanism will play a key role in a choice between an “age of human capital” and an age of depletion and division.
    Before she died, the great urbanist Jane Jacobs was known to be working on a book project about a subject she referred to as “the coming age of human capital.” This work seemed to represent a culmination of her earlier writings on urban economics and regeneration, and her later focus on human...Read more

  • Parks: Not just for picnics

    New recognition of the health and safety benefits of parks is changing how the public and leaders view green spaces.
    For generations, parks were viewed simply as an amenity, a way to beautify a city. Whether they were planned for gardens, sports, or picnicking, parks were rarely seen as central to public safety and health. But that is beginning to change. As cities around the world continue their growth, the role...Read more

  • Violent protests mar Portland’s essential blueprint

    In the Pearl District, a place designed for human movement and a model of affordable urban renaissance, miscreants with bricks and bats fueled Donald Trump’s incendiary charge that our “inner cities are in crisis.”
    Thursday night, the rush of noise funneling down the Pearl District’s Lovejoy Avenue sounded like the gusts of a hurricane’s outer bands. The crescendo built as voices harmonized with the storm of feet moving past my residence. The melodic chant stirred me, raising my hopes and emotions after a...Read more