Suburban areas looking to improve public places can try following this advice.
Eric Bethany offers a few guidelines for the development of successful suburban centers—following the trend of suburban areas around the country mimicking the walkability and a mix of uses found in more urban areas.
Bethany is taking inspiration from the development of Parsons Alley in the city of Duluth, Georgia, which won a 2017 ULI Development of Excellence Award and a 2017 Charter Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism.
The bulk of the post is devoted to a list of placemaking guidelines that are borrowed from examples like New Orleans, Charleston, and streetcar suburbs outside Atlanta.
The list reads as follows, with more detail in the source post:
- Storefronts you can touch
- It's all about the glass
- Perimeter Parking
- Great public space
- Familiar materials
- Open container
- Attention to detail
- Variety
Read the full story: Eight elements for a successful suburban center
Op-Ed: Utopian Thinking Poses Continued Dangers for Urbanists
Charles Wolfe calls attention to similarities between contemporary urbanism and yesterday's debunked utopias. The two may differ in substance, but both tend toward a certain level of dogma that isn't necessarily helpful on the ground.
Celebration, Florida: 20 Years Later
Disney's efforts to make a quaint American town both failed and succeeded in ways few could have predicted.
Millennial Fever: Taking Stock of Denver Placemaking
Denver's investments in placemaking—guided by the city's great appeal to Millennials—are a mixed bag of hits, misses, and open questions.
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.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Move over, LA: St. Louis gears up for Olympics, invests millions in downtown redevelopment
The Missouri city will host the 2028 Olympic soccer group stage and knockout matches.
Mass. votes against statewide minimum lot size for single-family homes
Over 2 million residents voted on Question 7; it was decided by just over 30,000 votes.
Maryland’s $15 billion bridge project gains key approval
The Maryland Transit Authority said the project will create over 60,000 jobs and add $23 billion to the local economy.
‘No clear next steps’ for Chicago's permanent festival grounds
Eleventh Ward Ald. Nicole Lee has suggested Soldier Field as a possible location for the permanent event space.
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