• Former high school becomes entrepreneurial center

    Bok converted an abandoned vocational high school into a beehive of affordable workspace and community activity in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The project won a 2020 CNU Charter Award in the Block, Street, and Building category for Scout LTD.
    The magnificent art deco Bok, where Philadelphia high-school students learned a wide variety of trades for nearly eight decades, was a “maker-space” of its time. The former citywide vocational high school was closed in 2013 and sat vacant for two years until Scout LTD purchased the property with a...Read more

  • Creativity + innovation as a pandemic response

    Across human history, crisis has always presented opportunities for innovation and will always be fertile ground for those fearless enough to look past the obvious obstacles at hand.
    We are experiencing a truly unique time in human history that we perhaps haven’t seen since the end of World War II. A global phenomenon that nearly the entire planet is dealing with simultaneously. Like the shared experience of war or other forms of crisis that brings out the best in people, we...Read more

  • After the lockdown, new opportunities for downtown shopping districts

    Main Street areas stand to do well as a result of entrepreneurial activity and market forces in the aftermath of the coronavirus.
    Since the earliest human settlements, the retail experience has evolved to meet the needs of the public. This evolution has taken us from rural markets to towns, cities, suburban shopping malls, big box mega stores, and, more recently, the Internet. But what will retail shopping look like once...Read more

  • Small industrial city diversifies with new urban district

    The River District Implementation Plan is building a new walkable neighborhood across from downtown Elkhart, Indiana. Speck & Associates and Stantec’s Urban Places won a merit award in CNU's 2020 Charter Awards.
    An underutilized peninsula across the river from downtown is giving Elkhart, Indiana, an opportunity to diversify its economy. The city is a center of RV manufacturing—an important jobs base that is nevertheless vulnerable to shifting markets and demands. The city was set to begin revitalizing the...Read more