Charles Marohn discusses the CNU NextGen initiative "Investment Ready Places" by Street Sense. The new booklet provides strategies for identifying and investing in America’s “new frontier for development.”
In America, small towns and cities have suffered from the Ponzi scheme of suburban growth. "And certainly," writes Marohn, "almost all small towns are bankrupt, if not literally insolvent than functionally."
Yet those at Street Sense regard this situation as an opportunity for small and mid-sized towns to leverage their assets to meet "the unique set of challenges we face" -- a mission that the suburbs are ill-equipped to take on. The guide outlines strategies for recognizing these "investment ready places" and maximizing their development potential. "At its core," says Marohn, "Investment Ready Places is a call to tap the enormous potential and high-returns that still remain from the traditional development pattern."
Read the full story: Investment ready places
Dairy Queen and Rural Third Places
Dozens of Dairy Queen restaurants across Texas are closing, taking a critical community space with them.
Midburbs: A New Definition of Suburbs
When the name “suburb” just doesn't quite fit.
Small Towns Grow Faster Than Cities for First Time in Decades
Cities of 4 million or more people lost 600,000 residents to domestic migration.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Study reveals best places in the U.S. for cycling, walking
New research from Streetlight Data examines bicycle and pedestrian miles per capita in the 100 largest U.S. cities by population.
DSA members accuse Mamdani of 'abandoning values' over housing redevelopment
New York City's mayor plans to replace about 2,000 units of public housing with private, mixed-income housing.
All sides of BRT debate unhappy with CDOT’s most recent move
The Colorado Department of Transportation is no longer considering center-running bus lanes for Colorado Boulevard.
Massachusetts bogs generate both power, and cranberries
Putting solar panels above farmland is one way Massachusetts is advancing toward its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
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 Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello