Happiness and health are generated or depleted by the way our neighbourhoods, towns, cities, and rural landscapes are developed. Creative placemaking adds to walkable urbanism by sealing the deal on physical, mental, and social well-being.

PlaceShakers has been running a series on a proposed Urban Happiness Index or Healthy Place Index. Hazel Borys turns an eye toward her own inspirations in great cycling cities, cycling through nature, gardening, retail streets, travel, living outdoors, cottage living, and art, and goes on to say:
"For me personally, places that generate the highest levels of mental and social well-being are the outcomes of creative placemaking, a discipline recently getting an injection of capital from ArtPlace. It’s a private-public consortium providing 'a means of investing in art and culture at the heart of a portfolio of integrated strategies that can drive vibrancy and diversity so powerful that it transforms communities.'"
Borys goes on to review a public art piece that opened last week in Winnipeg, From Here Until Now. Her parting warning:
"One of the pickets in the bridge reads, 'Affluence creates poverty,' a quote from the great Canadian philosopher of communication theory, and former area resident, Marshall McLuhan. While we have a long way to go to mitigate the gentrification inherent in creative placemaking outcomes, it’s worth figuring given the other significant value-driving benefits to health, environment, and economy. Not to mention the simple satisfaction of the experience."
FULL STORY: Creative Placemaking: From Here Until Now

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Half of Post-Fire Altadena Home Sales Were to Corporations
Large investors are quietly buying up dozens of properties in Altadena, California, where a devastating wildfire destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.

Opinion: What San Francisco’s Proposed ‘Family Zoning’ Could Really Mean
Mayor Lurie is using ‘family zoning’ to encourage denser development and upzoning — but could the concept actually foster community and more human-scale public spaces?

Jacksonville Launches First Autonomous Transit Shuttle in US
A fleet of 14 fully autonomous vehicles will serve a 3.5-mile downtown Jacksonville route with 12 stops.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont