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May 6, 2013 | 12:01 am

The Pendulum Shifts: Expertise is now suspect

Slow and steady progress is built on an ongoing series of course corrections. Subtle variations in direction based on new variables, new challenges, and new innovations.

As times and circumstances change, some things inevitably become less productive. Or effective. Or conducive to contemporary sensibilities. So, we make changes.

Historically, they’ve been made by a matter of degrees. A minor turn here, a more substantial turn there. But today, in the modern era, we seem overly-fascinated with just one increment in particular. The most extreme increment. 180 degrees.

Out with the old, in with the new.

Category Community Development, Planning and Design, Public Engagement, Theory and Practice13 CommentsTags expertise, experts, Modernist, placemaking, Scott Doyon

March 28, 2013 | 12:01 am

Crowdsourcing = Data = Better Places

You know what the payment is for crowdsourcing? By asking other people to step up and think through solutions to some collective problem, I must commit to making a difference myself.

Every time I’ve asked you to share information with me, you have. Then I feel the need to compile it, analyze it, and organize it into a useful tool. I often get behind in answering all of your individual emails – thanks for all you send – but the power of your collective comments comes through loud and clear.

Category Back of the Envelope, Development, Legal, Planning and Design, Public Policy, Resilience1 CommentTags aging, aging in place, Baby Boomers, crowdsource, crowdsourcing, Emily Talen, form-based code, Hazel Borys, placemaking, Resilience, smartcode, TND

February 28, 2013 | 9:32 am

Next Urbanism Lab 05: The Value of Visuals

In simple terms, a plan is an adopted statement of policy, in the form of text, maps, and/or graphics, used to guide public and private actions that affect our future built environment. A plan provides decision makers with the information they need to make informed decisions affecting the long-range social, economic, and physical growth of neighborhoods, districts and corridors. Regional, city-wide, neighborhood, and specific area plans usually provide a visual representation of the plan’s objectives and intent.

Category Back of the Envelope, Development, Legal, Planning and Design, Public Engagement, Public Policy1 CommentTags Daniel Burnham, Howard Blackson, James E Oglethorpe, Kevin Klinkenberg, Next Urbanism Lab, placemaking, placeshaking, planning, San Diego, Savannah Georgia, visuals

February 25, 2013 | 12:01 am

Placemaking vs. Placeshaking

Earlier this month, writing about successful neighborhood planning, my fellow PlaceMaker Howard Blackson used the term “placeshaker” as a catch-all for the grass roots engagement efforts that empower, but don’t necessarily define, placemaking.

That got me thinking. Even though our firm is called PlaceMakers and our blog, PlaceShakers, I’ve never really given a lot of thought to the distinction between the two. Is there a difference and, if so, is it a meaningful one?

Category Community Development, Development, Economic Development, Planning and Design, Public Engagement6 CommentsTags build a better block, Park(ing) Day, PlaceMakers, placemaking, Placeshakers, placeshaking, planning, Scott Doyon, slow down, Tactical Urbanism, Urban Design

October 22, 2012 | 9:54 am

Municipal Placemaking Mistakes 01: Quantity over quality

Today we begin a PlaceShakers experiment. Through a series of periodic posts, Nathan Norris will explore how cities hinder their own placemaking efforts, wasting time and money by investing in tools, policies and programs that deliver lousy results. In the process, we’ll be looking to you to help flesh out the content through examples, personal experiences and links to additional resources. The goal? A one-stop, crowdsourced primer for cities and towns seeking advantage in an ever-competitive world.

Mistake #1: Judging urban development projects on their quantity of budget/unit count as opposed to the quality of their functional design details or return on investment.

Category Architecture, Development, Economic Development, Planning and Design, Public Policy3 CommentsTags Andrew Burleson, Boulder Colorado, development, Joe Mini, Municipal Placemaking Mistakes, Nathan Norris, placemaking, return on investment, smart growth, Trader Joes, Victor Dover

September 13, 2012 | 12:20 am

Places that Pay: Benefits of placemaking

When we updated and republished the Codes Study last week, I was deeply encouraged by all of you who expressed support. Thank you! From Rome to Finland to the UAE and across North America, I enjoyed the conversations and online exchanges regarding this group of towns and cities that are using character-based land use laws to guide proactive, locally-driven efforts to improve quality-of-life and become more economically competitive.

Others of you were asking for insights for how to get this change rolling at home, looking for value capture. Many reports quantify the value of the sorts of livable, walkable places that a form-based code generates. Here is a selection of studies that help make the case for walkability.

Category Back of the Envelope, Economic Development15 CommentsTags cycling, economic development, emissions, global warming, Hazel Borys, heath, placemaking, walkability

October 14, 2011 | 8:19 am

Resources + Connections = Jobs

Jobs come up in every community-building conversation these days. It’s making me go back to the start, to think it through. What created jobs in the first place?

Division of Labor. Access to natural resources. Human settlement patterns: cross roads, rivers, oceans, eventually railroads and highways.

In the last few decades, many cities have been racing to the economic bottom trying to incentivize jobs. It’s led to jobs being all about giving away resources, and not so much about the value of connections.

Category Development, Planning and Design, Public Policy, Resilience1 CommentTags creative class, economic development, Exchange District, Hazel Borys, Paul Simon, placemaking, resiliency, Winnipeg

April 1, 2011 | 11:44 am

Ignorance was Bliss: How my urban learnin’ almost ruined everyday places

For ten years I’ve been hanging around with a pretty interesting collection of traditional architects, planners and urban designers. That’s my job. Taking their inherent disciplinary wonkdom and simplifying it for wider appreciation. Doing so means I’m frequently on the sidelines as they work, and a consistent witness to their application of accumulated wisdom to all manner of challenges currently ill served by modern solutions.

That’s put me on the receiving end of something of great professional value. And equally great personal annoyance:

An understanding of what makes great places great.

Category Architecture, Development, Planning and Design8 CommentsTags Bob Gibbs, civic art, placemaking, Ray Oldenburg, Scott Doyon, The Great Good Place

December 10, 2010 | 9:38 am

Let’s Get Small: Placemaking as Antidote for Shrinking City Budgets

It’s that time of year, but it’s no holiday party in most city budget meetings. Cities across the continent are looking for ways to make ends meet. A quick survey turns up some sobering city deficits: New York $4.4 billion, Toronto $225 million, Washington DC $188 million, Houston $120 million, L.A. $87 million, San Diego $72 million, Cleveland $28 million. States are worse still: California $6 billion, Illinois $15 billion, Arizona $1.5 billion. Those are some major gaps to fill, before we make it to the federal level.