• Reviving the downtown of a hard luck city

    Florida’s first predominantly African-American suburb has been out of the economic mainstream for six decades. A downtown plan that focuses on New Urbanism, affordable housing, and minority business development maps out a better future.
    Founded in the 1920s by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtis, Opa-locka, Florida, had an imaginative beginning, with architecture based on the Arabian Nights. The city six miles north of Miami reportedly has the largest collection of Moorish building design in the Western Hemisphere. The City Hall, with...Read more

  • Rush hour in Amsterdam

    I love this photo, from urbanist and author Michael Mehaffy, who posted it on his Facebook page . No moving car is visible in this commute shot of the most populous city of the Netherlands (in the winter, no less), but plenty of bicyclists and pedestrians. It also looks like tram tracks and wires...Read more

  • Why vacant offices are post-pandemic opportunities

    Cities and states offer incentives for developers to convert offices to living spaces, which could have a profound impact on downtowns, employment districts, and office parks.
    Near the beginning of the pandemic, when downtowns across America resembled eerily well-maintained ghost towns, a Public Square article speculated on what would happen if many workers never returned to the office. “When we emerge from this pandemic, it would not be surprising if employees...Read more

  • The church of urban transformation

    On the Park Bench explores mixed-use, neighborhood-scale development projects for faith communities in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Pike Road, Alabama.
    A growing number of sites owned by worship organizations across the US are in need of planning and development that strengthens community. Those sites present opportunities for mixed-use projects that fulfill higher goals for the faith institutions, according to experts on an On the Park Bench...Read more