• Safe streets and the fire service conflict

    It’s time for the fire service to become an active partner in overall public safety.
    On a warm day in 1971, I was on my way to the local bodega near my home on 79 th Street in New York City when I saw a ladder truck stopped next to the store. A few of the fire fighters were hanging around with sour looks on their faces. The radio was squawking away and they were listening intently...Read more

  • Getting sh*t done: Lady developers edition

    Three women developers from across the US are helping to bring back their home cities.
    I am not a developer and I have never been a developer, however, the beauty of CNU is that it provides a well-rounded liberal arts education on urbanism—you can still take a class in a subject even if you’re not going to major in it. At CNU 26 in Savannah,I dipped a toe into the development pond...Read more

  • Problems and solutions for main street retail

    Shopability studies for two Florida cities illustrate the potential and hurdles for many American small-to-midsize downtowns.
    Note: This is one of a series of ongoing Public Square articles on the market, technological, and cultural transformation of the $5 trillion retail industry—and how it relates to a continued shift toward walkable, urban living. People love a main street, but the tired, dated look and incomplete...Read more

  • Conventional suburban versus hamlet design

    The conventional suburban site plan above left was drawn for a hilltop site in a large development project. Charlotte architect and urban planner Tom Low, director of Civic By Design , created the alternative New Urbanism plan of a hamlet. The idea is to develop a series of interconnected hilltop...Read more