• The role of community advocacy

    CNU’s biennial Freeways Without Futures report is out now! In a series of articles, Public Square is exploring common threads from the report. Article three focuses on how community campaigns can influence public policy related to in-city highways.
    With many of these hulking, burdensome highways reaching the end of their useful lifespans, communities are looking for alternatives to costly highway repair and expansion. The campaigns in this report offer a pathway to better health, equity, opportunity, and connectivity in every neighborhood,...Read more

  • Reconnecting Communities with federal financing

    CNU’s biennial Freeways Without Futures report is out now! In a series of articles, Public Square is exploring common threads from the report. Article two focuses on Reconnecting Communities financing.
    This year’s report is the first to coincide with acknowledgment from the federal government of the inequitable and harmful impacts of urban highway construction. Financing for the first round of funding through the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program awarded $185 million in grants to 45 projects...Read more

  • What does government support for highway removal look like?

    CNU’s biennial Freeways Without Futures report is out now! In a series of articles, Public Square is exploring common threads from the report. Article one focuses on how government supports local campaigns.
    Freeways Without Futures highlights the efforts of local campaign organizers and activists seeking to revitalize their communities by dismantling the city highways that burden them with the significant health hazards of vehicle exhaust, a loss of local businesses and services, and streets that are...Read more

  • Community plan builds on success of food kitchen

    A team of new urbanists design for a neighborhood in the crosshairs of gentrification, adding healthy food and affordable housing.
    Building on a successful nonprofit food kitchen, the Highland neighborhood in Gastonia, North Carolina, is planning to grow in a healthy and walkable way as gentrification pressure mounts. Located northwest of downtown, Highland is home to 5,000 mostly African-American residents. A team of new...Read more