• Legalizing the city and visualizing its potential

    Kingston Forward takes the art and communication of a form-based code to a new level in a historic New York State city. Dover, Kohl & Partners won a 2024 CNU Charter Award in The Region: Metropolis, City, and Town category.
    New land-use codes may transform communities but are notoriously difficult to communicate. They involve abstract concepts that nevertheless impact local health, economy, sustainability, and the built form over decades—in ways that are not always obvious to citizens or political representatives...Read more

  • Mapping 50-year resilience in a vulnerable region

    Just Imagine SWLA is a long-term resilience plan for Calcasieu and Cameron parishes in Louisiana. The Community Foundation Southwest Louisiana and Urban Design Associates won a 2024 CNU Charter Award in The Region: Metropolis, City, and Town category.
    Southwest Louisiana, comprising Calcasieu and Cameron parishes, is larger than Rhode Island or Delaware. The region is extremely low and vulnerable to sea-level rise and storm surge. The largest city, Lake Charles, is 30 miles inland and only 15 feet above sea level. Four federally designated...Read more

  • Meeting 21st Century goals on a 19th Century ‘poor farm’

    Veridian at County Farm is a compact neighborhood model of sustainability and affordability in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Union Studio and THRIVE Collaborative won a Merit Award as an Emerging Project in the 2024 CNU Charter Awards.
    On a former county poor farm in the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan, about two miles from downtown, a new sustainable neighborhood with affordable housing is under construction. Unlike most new developments, Veridian at County Farm is designed as a community that is connected to local agriculture and...Read more

  • Reusing a cannery, connecting to the bayou

    Trappey and Bayou Vermilion Waterfront District Vision Plan will revitalize a waterfront and reuse a vacant industrial site in Lafayette, Louisiana. Lake|Flato Architects won a Merit Award for an Emerging Project in the 2024 CNU Charter Awards.
    For three decades, the vacant Trappey cannery on the Vermilion River deteriorated, but thanks to community stakeholders, private developers, and the City of Lafayette, this prime site will become a new neighborhood. The old factory buildings will be incorporated into the 22-acre mixed-use community...Read more