That's what a consultant told Robert L. Hubbard, city director of planning and community development of Gardner, Massachussetts, about the city's infrastructure. Gardner intends to build on those bones with an urban renewal plan.
George Barnes writes, "Mr. Hubbard said the idea is to clean up what was becoming a blighted area and use it to help make a more active and successful downtown. At one time, the factories in the rear Main Street area provided downtown businesses with a regular customer base, many of whom walked to work, shopped in the stores downtown and ate lunch in the local restaurants.
Today, downtown has lost the factory workers with the closing of the businesses and has been losing customers to malls."
Read the full story: Aspiring to reborn urban splendor
Milwaukee mayor abandons highway removal plan
Mayor Johnson spoke in opposition to a proposed plan to turn part of I-794 into an at-grade boulevard, expressing concerns about traffic.
New Tool Uncovers Exact Costs of Downtown Highways
A new research tool can help cities calculate the economic potential that could be unlocked by replacing highways with other uses.
San Francisco to Dismantle its Polarizing Brutalist Fountain
The Vaillancourt Fountain stands as a symbol of the tension between the city’s past and future.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
Detroit to transform waterfront with $2.2 billion investment
Developers will convert about 18 acres of unused parking lot space into civic spaces.
Newsom vetoes high-speed rail supervision bill after agency receives condemnatory audit
The audit found the CHSRA approved almost $600,000 in unallowable travel expenses.
Nation sees first electric plane-boat hybrid take off in public demo
The Viceroy Seaglider can fly at speeds of 180mph for up to 180 miles.
One of nation’s poorest counties to receive $6 billion data center
The developers estimate the project will create 200 permanent jobs and 1,000 temporary construction jobs.
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
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello