Suburban areas looking to improve public places can try following this advice.
Eric Bethany offers a few guidelines for the development of successful suburban centers—following the trend of suburban areas around the country mimicking the walkability and a mix of uses found in more urban areas.
Bethany is taking inspiration from the development of Parsons Alley in the city of Duluth, Georgia, which won a 2017 ULI Development of Excellence Award and a 2017 Charter Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism.
The bulk of the post is devoted to a list of placemaking guidelines that are borrowed from examples like New Orleans, Charleston, and streetcar suburbs outside Atlanta.
The list reads as follows, with more detail in the source post:
- Storefronts you can touch
- It's all about the glass
- Perimeter Parking
- Great public space
- Familiar materials
- Open container
- Attention to detail
- Variety
FULL STORY: Eight elements for a successful suburban center
Op-Ed: Utopian Thinking Poses Continued Dangers for Urbanists
Charles Wolfe calls attention to similarities between contemporary urbanism and yesterday's debunked utopias. The two may differ in substance, but both tend toward a certain level of dogma that isn't necessarily helpful on the ground.
Celebration, Florida: 20 Years Later
Disney's efforts to make a quaint American town both failed and succeeded in ways few could have predicted.
Millennial Fever: Taking Stock of Denver Placemaking
Denver's investments in placemaking—guided by the city's great appeal to Millennials—are a mixed bag of hits, misses, and open questions.
The Surprising Oil Tax in the Inflation Reduction Act
President Biden has made reducing gas prices paramount in his administration, so it was likely a surprise to hear a Republican senator last Sunday warn TV viewers that a revived and increased oil fee in the climate bill will increase their gas costs.
The Tide Has Turned Against Open Streets
Once a promising development for advocates pushing for a less car-centric future in cities, the open streets movement has ceded significant ground to cars since the height of the pandemic.
San Antonio Office Tower To Become Residential
With the building more than half vacant, the new owners of the Tower Life Building plan to convert the historic tower into residences that could include affordable housing.
Department of the Interior Forced to Intervene on the Colorado River
More questions than answers on the Colorado River this week as the federal government failed to deliver on threats to force Southwest states to cut back on water use.
Explaining Rent Inflation
The delayed effects of changes in rent costs make rent inflation a difficult figure to pin down.
Dallas Names 66-Mile Bike and Walking Trail
When complete, the newly named DFW Discovery Trail will incorporate 50 miles of existing trails into a regional ‘super highway.’
San Francisco County Transportation Authority
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Cohousing Association of the US
City of Crystal River
Sun City Center Community Association, Inc
City of Mesa
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.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.
