• 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

  • Seaside: A model for Lean and green

    The resort town in the Florida Panhandle is best known for being compact, walkable and diverse in uses and places, but Seaside has also become known as one of the first environmentally designed new towns.
    Note: This article was written as part of the Project for Lean Urbanism and edited for Public Square. Seaside is best known for being compact, walkable, and diverse—but it also has a reputation for its environmental design. Now it should be recognized as a model of Lean Urbanism. Of course, those...Read more

  • The struggles of ‘golf course communities’ and the foresight of New Urbanism

    Developer Bob Turner talks about Habersham, the future of traditional neighborhood developments, and current development trends.
    A recent article from coastal South Carolina tells the story of gated golf course communities where owners are selling their lots for a dollar, sometimes in tax sales, to get out from under heavy homeowner fees on properties that remain vacant. This problem was predicted 18 years ago by new urban...Read more