10 Lessons in More Engaging Citizen Engagement
As more people choose to live in cities, local governments find themselves facing increasingly complex issues in city-making.Tags: Community Engagement, Public Participation, Community Outreach, Public...
View ArticleA Call for a Youth Movement in the Planning Process
After more than 35 years attending public meetings about community planning and development, Bob Ransford has an unfortunate observation. “…the most profound thing I’ve learned is that too often, the...
View ArticleDevelopment Fails the Public Opinion Polls
Patrick Fox writes for PlannersWeb about the public sentiment toward development—long a source of frustration (on both sides of the issue) in communities all over the country.Publication Date: Wed,...
View ArticleStrengthening the Bond between People and Placemaking
The Project for Public Spaces shares news of a white paper by a research team at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning.Publication Date: Sun, 04/20/2014
View ArticleEngage; Don’t Rage: Use a Design Charrette to Negotiate Your Next Development...
When I returned to Toronto in 2002, after a dozen years working as an urban design consultant in the United States, I couldn’t believe how long and often confrontational the development approval...
View ArticleHappy Ending for Controversial Development Proposal in Philadelphia
“First proposed last summer, the [One Riverside] project at 25th and Locust has undergone a major redesign at the insistence of neighbors, who bitterly objected to the design - and even to the tower's...
View ArticleQuestioning the 'Wisdom of Crowds' in Minneapolis
Marlys Harris is concerned about a number of proposed projects that have come under fire, and were subsequently killed or indefinitely delayed, by neighborhood groups in the Minneapolis...
View ArticleSeattle's New Council Election Format; Revisiting the 'Neighborhood Movement'
"Nearly three decades since its inception, and with the advent of district elections for Seattle City Council, it is reasonable to ask: Do we need a city sponsored neighborhood district council system...
View ArticleThe Least Popular Posts of 2014
Through the first six months of 2014, some Planetizen posts proved less than enticing to our readers. Instead of dwelling on that distinction as ignominious, let's consider how these neglected few...
View ArticleResidents Clamor for Expanded Notification of Affordable Housing Projects in...
"The projects share a name — Millennium — and a road — McKinney Ranch Parkway, though they’re separated by 2.7 miles. The first, Millennium 1, is in the early stages of construction where Silverado...
View ArticleNew York City's Crowdsourced Street Safety Map
Stephen Miller wrote of the crowdsourcing exercise on July 31—the last day for citizens to report safety conditions to the Vision Zero mapping system. Now the city will "start using the information...
View ArticleHow a Bunch of Nosepickers are Helping Nashville Plan for its Future
When my agency, MP&F Public Relations, took on the community outreach duties for Nashville’s General Plan update, we knew that—like any public planning process—it would require a lot of...
View ArticleThe Faith-Based Gap in the Institutional Landscape of Cities
There exists in Calgary, as in most other municipalities, an institutional gap that reduces the well being of communities and makes long-term sustainability much more difficult.Tags: Faith-Based...
View ArticleProfile in Success: Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard
Many credit the leadership of widely-admired Mayor Bill Bogaard with the city's successes in these areas. After the recent announcement that he will not run for office in 2015, he sat down with The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Twitter Identifies Public Sentiment
Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow focuses on the research of Justin Hollander, an associate professor of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts and founder of the university’s Urban Attitudes...
View ArticleClik here to view.
North Carolina Planners: Where to Build Light Rail (and Should it Be Built)?
NC planners ask: Where to build light rail (and should we still do it?)Publication Date: Tue, 11/18/2014
View ArticleClik here to view.
3 Strategies for Controlling Gentrification
A recent event hosted by Next City called "Gentrification, Integration, and Equity," featured four panelists: Ingrid Gould Ellen, Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at NYU; Eric Grimes, co-founder,...
View ArticleWashington D.C. Hires a New Director of Planning
"DC mayor Muriel Bowser will appoint Salt Lake City's former director of community and economic development, Eric Shaw, to run the DC Office of Planning," according to a post by David Alpert on Greater...
View ArticleA Dissenting Take on the Nicollet Mall Planning Process
"The biggest impediment to improving Nicollet Mall is not the aesthetic of the street, but the buildings themselves and their poor frontages," according to Nathaniel M Hood.Publication Date: Mon,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How To: Design a User-Friendly Museum Exhibition about Planning
"If you want to see how the rarefied topic of urban design can be presented in a downright friendly way, check out the Presidio’s current exhibition on its recent competition for a unique park above...
View Article
