• Violent protests mar Portland’s essential blueprint

    In the Pearl District, a place designed for human movement and a model of affordable urban renaissance, miscreants with bricks and bats fueled Donald Trump’s incendiary charge that our “inner cities are in crisis.”
    Thursday night, the rush of noise funneling down the Pearl District’s Lovejoy Avenue sounded like the gusts of a hurricane’s outer bands. The crescendo built as voices harmonized with the storm of feet moving past my residence. The melodic chant stirred me, raising my hopes and emotions after a...Read more

  • Main Street Center as a model for sprawl retrofit

    Suburban areas in need of transformation often lack an oversight organization to join, providing a network of support.
    Note: This document is one of a series of tools created for Build a Better Burb, the Hub for Great Suburban Design. The Build a Better Burb website has been recently updated by CNU. The Problem Suburban areas in need of transformation often lack an oversight organization to join, providing a...Read more

  • Reforming the low-income housing tax credit scoring system

    Affordable housing is built in the suburbs in automobile-dependent places, forcing low-income and working-class residents to spend too much on transportation.
    Note: This document is one of a series of tools created for Build a Better Burb, the Hub for Great Suburban Design. The Build a Better Burb website has been recently updated by CNU. The Problem Affordable housing is built in the suburbs in automobile-dependent places, forcing low-income and working...Read more

  • Cultivating consensus

    The charrette process can empower citizens to agree on the location of multiple walkable centers in suburban areas.
    Note: This document is one of a series of tools created for Build a Better Burb, the Hub for Great Suburban Design. The Build a Better Burb website has been recently updated by CNU. The Problem Many US suburban governments, such as townships (each usually 36 square miles in area), are so vast that...Read more