The example of Holladay Park in Portland is examined for lessons in improving public spaces through the help of private sector consultants.
Casey Parks offers insights from Dan Biederman, hired to transform the Holladay Park just outside the Lloyd Center in Portland. (Biederman is perhaps most famous as the consultant behind the Bryant Park remodel in New York City.)
One nugget offered by Biederman, as paraphrased by Parks in the article: "Revitalizing small urban parks often requires an easy solution: More female visitors. They'll come if you offer events and activities, Biederman says. But all-day programming requires more money than most local governments can spare."
The article goes into greater detail about the potential of public-private partnerships to improve parks, especially through programming, as well as more details about the city's success at Holladay Park.
Read the full story: How do you fix an urban park? Bring in more women, planner says
Historic Queens park is getting a $120M upgrade
The borough's largest park will undergo significant upgrades for accessibility, flood mitigation and historic preservation.
Harley-Davidson turned a Milwaukee parking lot into a green oasis
The park, adjacent to Harley-Davidson headquarters, doubles as stormwater retention infrastructure.
Jim Crow Robbed America of Public Pools. It’s Time to get Them Back.
Disparity amongst who can and can’t swim in America isn’t an accident — and it's deadly. Let’s reclaim the community pool as an essential public space.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
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
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority