Andrés Duany observes that American planners and architects are misunderstanding New Orleans by thinking of it as an American city rather than a Caribbean one.
"I remember specifically when on a street in the Marigny I came upon a colorful little house framed by banana trees. I thought, "This is Cuba," (I am Cuban). I realized in that instant that New Orleans is not really an American city, but rather a Caribbean one.
Looking through the lens of the Caribbean, New Orleans is not among the most haphazard, poorest or misgoverned American cities, but rather the most organized, wealthiest, cleanest, and competently governed of the Caribbean cities. This insight was fundamental because from that moment I understood New Orleans and began to truly sympathize. Like everyone, I found government in this city to be a bit random; but if New Orleans were to be governed as efficiently as, say, Minneapolis, it would be a different place – and not one that I could care for. Let me work with the government the way it is.
It is the human flaw that makes New Orleans the most humane of American cities. (New Orleans came to feel so much like Cuba that I was driven to buy a house in the Marigny as a surrogate for my inaccessible Santiago de Cuba.)"
Read the full story: Restoring the Real New Orleans
The Katrina Cottage Legacy
The New Urbanist Katrina Cottages initiative for the Gulf Coast appeared to be a failure but their legacy lives on in the SmartDwellings and in the Tiny House movement.
Barbie, Duany and the American Institute of Architects
Mattel chose to premiere its "Architect Barbie" at the AIA Convention in New Orleans, and reporter Doug MacCash foregoes the plastic icon to talk to another sort of icon—Andres Duany.
Study: New Orleans sea level rise is at 'point of no return'
Research shows that the city could be surrounded by water by the end of this century.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
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Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
NYC to turn city-owned property into thousands of homes
The city has scheduled a public hearing regarding the development for October.
Buses travel at 5mph along this route in NYC. The Bronx's first-ever busway looks to change that
Prior to the busway, buses on the Bx36 route traveled as slowly as 5 miles per hour.
Pittsburg launches 'EZ permits,' aims for one-day turnaround for low-risk permits
The pilot ‘fast lane’ for permits is part of a bundle of modernization efforts for Pittsburg’s permitting process.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello