• Creative placemaking: Knowing when to get out of the way

    It seems everywhere I turn lately I stumble my way into a conversation on creative placemaking — people looking at the activation of public space as a way to further their personal and collective passions and pursuits. It’s heartening. I’m a firm believer that our taking of emotional ownership over...Read more

  • Playing field tilted against cities

    "The public policy environment in Pennsylvania, and in most places in the United States, is absolutely, positively hostile to cities," said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. Wolf said, for example, that the costs of water, sewer, and electric networks tend to be lower in densely populated areas, but that...Read more

  • Comeback city: CNU in Detroit

    The Transforming City is the theme of this year’s Congress—and it’s the most inspiring CNU storyline that I can remember.
    Everything bad that has happened to US cities since 1950 is compounded in the Motor City. Detroit has lost more than 60 percent of its population. Its industrial economy is decimated. Houses have burned down almost nightly for years. Crime, poor schools, bankruptcy—you name it—Detroit has suffered...Read more

  • Florida embraces Complete Streets, a colossal task

    A comprehensive implementation guide was written to retool the machinery behind Florida's deadly streets.
    Florida recently adopted a comprehensive statewide plan to implement Complete Streets. I'll go out on a limb and say this plan is needed. Florida ranks first in the US in pedestrian fatalities nationwide. Florida is also the most dangerous state for bicyclists, according to the Centers for Disease...Read more