Photo of a street festival on 4th Street in Louisville, by Daniel Leal, a CNU 27 attendee from San Antonio, Texas.
Got A Minute

A Week of Love and Struggle

At CNU 27.Louisville, New Urbanists got a little verklempt
LISA SCHAMESS    JUN. 20, 2019

It's not as if Congresses past have been devoid of emotion and humanity, but CNU 27 and its host city, Louisville, seemed to bring out the feeling in all of us.

The Regional Symposium on healthy design on Tuesday prepared the ground for a stunning, moving plenary on Wednesday, featuring Mrs. Lonnie Ali and Mayor Greg Fischer. Both spoke about the need for compassion to operate in our planning, design, and development of cities and services.

Our hosts had a lot to do with setting this tone, both the great city leadership and the people of Louisville, themselves. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Center for Neighborhoods #louisville #kentucky #cnu27 #cnu2019 #newurbanism

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The bones and muscle of the buildings and streets reflected Louisville's values and specialness:

There was celebration in the air, too, like this painted alley, where a little arts and music festival sprung up near the Henry Clay.

The Congress also coincided with Pride, and the streets were filled with people claiming their right to be who they are in public, including many of us::

...and CNU held its own celebrations of accomplishments and hard work every night (Repurposed tactical space on West Main Street)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Today, eight Andrews University School of Architecture graduates were recognized for excellence in four different projects at the #CNU27 Charter Award ceremony: . 1. Our Urban Design Studio was recognized for its work in assisting the flood-prone communities at #ElCañoMartínPeña in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Representing the 2017 class were , , , and . . 2. #PlanVivaLaredo was recognized in Laredo, TX. The #doverkohl team included 2007 AU graduates and Jennifer Garcia. . 3. was recognized for its work at #theparksatwalterreed in Washington, DC. Team included 2018 graduate . . 4. Placemakers was recognized for its #Plan2040 in Doña Ana County, New Mexico. Team included 1999 graduate and 2006 graduate with . . Also present in the last photo were 1999 graduate Kristin von Maur and 2006 graduate Ruthzaly Weich. . To God be the glory! . #auarchitecture #andrewsuniversity #louisville #congressfornewurbanism

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CNU fanned out throughout the Kentuckiana area, with tours and mobile workshops in Ohio and Indiana, including this tour of street designs for people in New Albany, Indiana, in which CNU member Jeff Speck consulted:

Even the intellectual insights had a heartfelt quality:

At CNU 27, we worked together to confront the racism and other inequities woven into US policy, practices, and systems. Here's a sobering fact from Karen Abrams, program officer for the Heinz Endowment::

The causes and solutions of inequity were probed at the Thursday plenary, moderated by Calvin Gladney, president and CEO of Smart Growth America:

and dozens of sessions on housing, social equity, inclusivity, and community building,


 
 

Housing inequity even came up in Donald Shoup's Friday plenary about parking:

It came up again and again, as one of the most wrenching, pressing problems for America right now (fortunately, with solutions):

A partnership with 89.3 WFPL and Louisville Public Media gave CNU unprecedented access to their studio and technicians for two days of podcasts:

There was mentoring at the Charter Awards pin-up Andres Duany with students from Andrews University. Photo by Andrew von Maur:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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CNU culminated its four Legacy Projects, our annual initiative to give back to our Congress host community through free design services.

Then, just like that, it was time to go home, heads full of new ideas (and more than a few hearts full, too).

equity   annual Congress   CNU 27
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