• L’Enfant’s sacred design for Washington DC

    Pierre L’Enfant created the physical framework for a resilient, dynamic, and sometimes disorienting city—now the hidden celestrial meaning behind the patterns is finally revealed.
    To the extent anyone thinks about the layout and pattern of streets in Washington DC (and really, who doesn’t?), the common perception is that there are two systems at work. First, a basic grid arrangement of streets running north-south and east-west, and a second wheel-and-spoke pattern of avenues...Read more

  • Grand plaza highlights history

    A dilapidated former municipal building, embodying decades of history in the historic Mexican city of San Cristobal, has been converted into a civic museum complete with an elegant and dignified new plaza. “Making the City Hall a museum was an extraordinary shift,” says Susana Utrilla, cultural...Read more

  • Revitalization rooted in place

    Plan Westside in Atlanta looks at revitalization of a city sector that has declined economically and socially from its civil rights heyday.
    The City of Atlanta council recently adopted a far-reaching plan for revitalization of Westside Atlanta, a city sector that is was the cradle of the civil rights movement. Five Historic Black Schools and Universities have their campuses in the Westside, which was home to Martin Luther King Jr.,...Read more

  • Twelve steps of sprawl recovery

    In communities across America sprawl is giving way to more diverse places. Here are a dozen keys to that trend.
    The storm clouds of sprawl addiction had been gathering for years, but it took the Meltdown and the ensuing Great Recession to make it clear just how damaging that addiction had been to the health of cities across the US and abroad. Sprawl has two really big things going for it, but three even...Read more