The Citizen Planner's Fix-It Manual

This excerpted chapter is from a "fix-it manual" for citizen planners working on improving their towns or neighborhoods.

1 minute read

March 18, 2001, 12:00 PM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


Real Towns is a handbook for real people - people who live in small towns, new suburbs or big cities; in downtown neighborhoods, historic districts or high-rise condos. This fix-it manual can help citizens working on real neighborhoods - places filled with character, families, and history, with people who want to make their communites work better. It gives local government officials, developers and citizen activists the tools needed to apply time-tested principles to revitalize their neighborhoods."This is a fix-it manual for working on real towns or neighborhoods - places filled with character, with families, with history, filled with people who want to make them better. Making towns work isn't exactly rocket science. It is often more complicated -- but some of the basic truths are very simple. Just as owner-builders can learn how to work on their houses, citizens can learn how to work on their communities. The obvious place to start is by looking at the parts that aren't working well, figuring out how they are interrelated, and diagnosing how to fix them together." The Citizen Planner has become an integral chapter in the recently-released book, Real Towns: Making Your Neighborhood Work (Local Government Commission and Citizen Planner Institute, 2000). [Thanks to "Real Towns" author Harrison Bright Rue for contributing the book summary.]

Thanks to The Practice of New Urbanism

Thursday, October 6, 2005 in Terrain

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Close-up of "Apartment for rent" sign in red text on black background in front of blurred building

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program

Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

April 21, 2025 - Housing Wire

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

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

April 30, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Ken Jennings stands in front of Snohomish County Community Transit bus.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series

The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

April 20, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

US and Texas flags flying in front of Texas state capitol dome in Austin, Texas.

Texas Bills Could Push More People Into Homelessness

A proposal to speed up the eviction process and a bill that would accelerate enforcement of an existing camping ban could make the state’s homelessness crisis worse, advocates say.

47 seconds ago - The Texas Tribune

Person in yellow safety suit and white helmet kneels to examine water samples outdoors on a lake shore.

USGS Water Science Centers Targeted for Closure

If their work is suspended, states could lose a valuable resource for monitoring, understanding, and managing water resources.

1 hour ago - Inside Climate News

Close-up of white panel at top of school bus with "100% electric" black text.

Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation

California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.

April 30 - California Air Resources Board