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The neighborhood that hope built
Glenwood Park, Atlanta, on a former industrial site, was built to restore confidence that humanity can create wonderful, walkable, loveable places.The site of a former concrete recycling center two miles east of downtown Atlanta is now a vibrant, mixed-use, traditional neighborhood development (TND). Its design is not only architecturally-intriguing, but also environmentally sustainable. Its persuasive pitch and later economic success led to...Read more -
Parklets transform Southside Chicago street
How urbanism can bring hope and change to a working-class African American neighborhood.Temporary parklets and outdoor cafes have recently boosted sales and street life on three blocks of a working-class African American community on the Southside of Chicago. The tactical public spaces in front of businesses on 75th Street in Chatham, set up for a long weekend starting July 20, were...Read more -
Preserving the rural landscape with agrarian urbanism
In addition to land use that perversely incentivizes the destruction of rural lands with 5-acre lots, the financial system further incentivizes rural subdivisions gobbling up farmland at a frightening rate.As the harvest starts to come in here in Manitoba and conversations with my farming friends point to a good yield, I’ve been thinking about how to preserve these lands . Rural communities are often the ones with the greatest constraints, especially when it comes to finances. Without federal support...Read more -
Innovative design for affordable housing
Blue Water workforce housing on Tavernier Key, Florida, created a system that of density that fits into the surrounding one- and two-story fabric.Dignified affordable housing that matches the quality and character of market-rate housing—without breaking the bank—is desperately needed across America. One of the most acute shortages is found in the Florida Keys, where restrictive growth management has resulted in very few affordable units...Read more