• 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

  • Our cities need social infrastructure also

    People don’t live by water pipes, sewers, street lights, and thoroughfares alone. Social infrastructure is what transforms cities from collections of buildings and roads to communities worth caring about.
    Note: This article first appeared on Strong Towns .​ My first summer of living in Waco, Texas, I sat up late one night journaling. It had been about 10 months since leaving Brooklyn. What did I miss, exactly, I wondered to myself as I leaned my head back against my pillow. A few predictable answers...Read more

  • 35 aspects of the 15-minute city

    A photo essay illustrates elements that are critical for a successful 15-minute city.
    Note: This photo essay is adapted from a Twitter thread . What is the 15-minute city? It's every city ever built by humans on this planet until a century ago, but with a catchy new name. And if the old parts haven't been destroyed in the last century, it's where the tourists go. And people travel...Read more

  • Parking is a national policy issue, thanks to Donald Shoup

    A growing number of cities and states are reforming their parking regulations, and Donald Shoup, this year’s winner of the Seaside Prize, deserves considerable credit.
    Once the exclusive topic of poorly attended planning meetings in local town halls, parking requirements have now become the unlikeliest of national issues. Nolan Gray, author of the zoning book Arbitrary Lines , says that parking has become “an incredibly influential policy area that no one thought...Read more