• Eight policies and programs that Opportunity Zones need

    Urbanists can do lot to help improve outcomes in particular Opportunity Zones. Here’s a checklist based on lessons from real communities.
    Opportunity Zones (OZs) have the potential be the biggest community development program in the nation’s history, according to the Rockefeller Foundation. There are more than 8,700 OZs designated in every state and most cities, targeting investments in low-to-moderate-income urban and rural areas—or...Read more

  • The troubling rise in pedestrian deaths

    We have made cars safer, but we still are reluctant to make streets safer.
    The steady rise in pedestrian deaths since 2009 has raised considerable alarm, and the latest data puts the 2018 pedestrian fatality rate near the 1990 peak. Nobody has a definitive answer for why this is occurring. “Analysts have speculated that the increase in SUV sales , as well as the growing...Read more

  • Testing new ideas with cottage courts

    This missing middle housing type is a highly adaptable tool for developers and builders in many locations.
    Cottage courts, a popular form of “missing middle” housing that is often used in new urban developments, were recently profiled by Forbes magazine. “Today many people are feeling lost and disconnected. They don’t need a great deal of space, but they would like to feel more connected to their...Read more

  • Seeing empty homes as an asset, not a liability

    Note: Hank Dittmar was a beloved part of CNU and a leader in urban planning, advocacy, and policy. As CEO Lynn Richards expressed, ‘Hank's writing is smart without being elitist, witty and poetic, succinct and often surprising.’ Hank's legacy now lives on in his writing of a new book published by...Read more