• On Netflix, Blue Zones highlight the benefits of ‘place’

    New urbanists can be encouraged by the popularity of Blue Zone research and learn from the many place-based factors to longevity, including walkability, social institutions, and local diet—which can be included in plans to boost quality of life.
    Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones debuted on Netflix at the end of August, and critics and the audience have liked the four-part documentary series (100 percent fresh critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes and strong audience ratings across many platforms). Throughout the series, new urbanist...Read more

  • Why pre-historic mobility will never get old

    The drawing was inspired when I was channel surfing and stopped at a history channel that showed reptilian animals crawling and then walking. For 5,000 years, we have been making cities that relied on human energy, animal power, and no mechanical mobility. These lessons are available to all of us...Read more

  • Why we need to design community into neighborhoods

    The author of Fragile Neighborhoods urges urban planners to take on a vital domestic challenge: Help restore the social function of neighborhoods.
    Improving the physical design of the built environment is not enough, argues author Seth Kaplan. He contends that healthy communities need formal and informal institutions that promote social interaction for humans to thrive. “We can’t just build with a vision of the built environment; we need a...Read more

  • Florida town adopts ‘Big Green Network’

    An Olmsted-inspired plan for Lake Wales, Florida, would revitalize the core, promote new growth in walkable neighborhoods, and preserve green space around the town.
    Lake Wales City Commission unanimously adopted Lake Wales Envisioned , a growth plan for the Central Florida community built around a network of green spaces, walkable neighborhoods, and a wide range of mobility options. The plan prepared by Dover, Kohl & Partners evolved from Lake Wales...Read more