• Baldwin Park

    Reknitting the urban fabric
    In the mid-1990s, the City of Orlando faced the closure of the 1,100-acre Naval Training Center, two miles from downtown. The easiest reuse option for the land would have included big box stores, an office park, and/or suburban housing pods. Instead, the city took the unprecedented step of striving...Read more

  • Granary Row

    Reclaiming the median for development
    The width of streets in Salt Lake City are legendary. According to a popular story, Brigham Young, who led the Mormons in founding the city, wanted a team of oxen to be able to turn around in the street with room to spare. Today, without the oxen, those over-wide streets mean wasted space,...Read more

  • Porchfest, Decatur, Georgia

    Grass-roots culture generates community
    For one warm fall Sunday afternoon, “the most diverse musical lineup of any festival in Georgia,” according to one reviewer, transformed a neighborhood in Decatur, an inner-ring suburb of Atlanta. The streets were taken over by pedestrians and bicyclists of all ages, listening to 134 musical acts—...Read more

  • Southside

    Ten acres that transformed a city
    In the mid-1990s, downtown Greensboro, North Carolina, was lifeless: "There were no white table restaurants, nothing happened after five o'clock, and all of the retail had moved out," says Andy Scott, the city economic development director.” When the city purchased properties and sought a private...Read more