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Gianni Longo

February 21, 2013 | 12:01 am

Ways to Fail at Form-Based Codes 01: Don’t Articulate a Vision

Last week, we were talking about how the form of a neighborhood either provides gathering places that build social capital and local resilience, or else makes for a lonely, disconnected, nowhere. Some towns and cities are using form-based codes to help reconnect people with each other and the places they call home.

At the end of last week’s discussion, I quickly mentioned ten points that can create problems with form-based codes. My friend, Bruce Donnelly, commented that some of these points bear elaboration. So today, I’m doing a back of the envelope on the biggest challenge to form-based codes: failing to establish a community vision that can then be codified — that is, made into law.

Category Back of the Envelope, Development, Planning and Design, Public Engagement, Public Policy7 CommentsTags Bruce Donnelly, El Paso Texas, FBC Ways to Fail Series, form-based code, Gianni Longo, Hazel Borys, Kona Hawaii, Miami Florida, Ranson West Virginia, Richard Florida

May 17, 2012 | 12:01 am

Snagging Gen-Y: Do Facebook ads work in public engagement?

Having worked in communities big and small across the continent, we’ve had ample opportunity to test ideas and find approaches that work best. Urban design details. Outreach tactics. Implementation tricks. Many of these lessons are transferable, which is why we’ve created “Back of the Envelope,” a weekly feature where we jot ’em down for your consideration.

For those looking to expand public engagement and collaborative process at the community level, this week presents a curious convergence of news and ideas. Setting the stage was CNU20’s “Charrettes and the Next Generation of Public Involvement,” an afternoon breakout session exploring a fairly provocative (for New Urbanists) question: In this era of limited resources, is the traditional charrette still a viable model of engagement and collaborative design and, if not, can it be retooled for relevance?

Category Back of the Envelope, Public Engagement, Sales and Marketing4 CommentsTags Andres Duany, charrette, CNU 20, Eliza Harris, Facebook ads, Generation Y, Gianni Longo, Millennials, Public Engagement, public process, Scott Doyon, Tactical Urbanism

May 14, 2012 | 9:22 am

This Just In from CNU20: World not yet saved

The Congress for the New Urbanism’s annual convergence of giganto ideas and fine-grained pragmatism wrapped Saturday night with a party in a bar. The four days in West Palm Beach, Florida, marked the 20th anniversary of such gatherings, most of which also involved spill-over debates in venues with liquor licenses.

As usual, the CNU20 agenda was packed with passion and ambition, with a smidgeon of apocalyptic visioning to dampen out-of-control hopefulness. So what’s on the minds of the NU designers, planners and fellow travelers these days?