• Partnership in DC focuses on minimizing displacement ahead of bridge park

    An Equitable Development Plan offers wealth building opportunities—not just affordable rental housing—including homeownership, workforce development, financial counseling, and small business development.
    In Washington, DC, the decommissioning of the 11th Street Bridge offered an opportunity to create an elevated linear park over the Anacostia River using the piers of the old bridge. The proposed bridge park, expected to break ground in 2021, would connect to trails on both sides of the river and...Read more

  • The great suburban Ponzi infrastructure experiment

    Charles Marohn's new book presents a way out for American cities that are trapped in a vicious cycle: Build neighborhoods one small step at a time rather than going straight to utopia.
    Planner and engineer Charles Marohn has a knack for coining words and phrases that encapsulate big problems in the built environment. One is “stroad,” a thoroughfare that combines the characteristics of roads and streets and serves neither purpose well. Others include “the great suburban experiment...Read more

  • The long road home for The Bahamas

    If The Bahamas rebuilds using the wisdom hard-earned on these islands over time, then the disaster of Dorian can result in a renewal of the places and buildings that have made The Bahamas world-famous, and have long driven the economy.
    It is heartbreaking to see the suffering and devastation in The Bahamas from Hurricane Dorian, which struck these islands in early September, and thoughts of those lonely rebuilding years ahead are even harder to bear for all of us who love The Bahamas. It’ll be lonely because after the first...Read more

  • Jargon-free urbanism

    Clear, jargon-free messages that promote urbanism are to be commended—whether they come from CNU or an aligned organization. Today I highlight a video from The Incremental Development Alliance (IncDev), in which they explain their organization's mission: “To help regular people build small, hard-...Read more