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CNU Public Square

Welcome to CNU Public Square, an open forum of the Congress for the New Urbanism where ideas come to congregate. Participate in an ongoing dialogue about the direction of the Congress for the New Urbanism and our annual Congress event.

 
     

Most Active Ideas

Recent Comments

»I recently participated in an urban infill charrette led by the Kentlands Initiative in Salt lake City, Utah's Granary District. The district is and has been a light indutrial neighborhood with some residential. Some challenges we found when calibrating the smartcode included:
1) How does retrofitting industrial buildings fit into a T4 zone?
2) How does one maintain semi-truck access while building complete streets?
3) What creative opportunities are there when applying T-zones to the standard 10 arce SLC block?
»I think the "Tea Party" label doesn't really help here; there isn't a centralized Tea Party group we can work with or against. Instead we should be focusing on outreach to right-wingers and conservatives generally, whether they be more Tea Partyish like Allan West or more mainstream like John Mica. If we can't get Congressmen let's think about state legislators and county commissioners.
»Dean G1, you are right on target by distinguishing between the Koch Brothers and other right-wing think tank funding that is behind the Tea Party and other movements of its ilk and the large majority who have fallen for the rhetoric. Sandy is right to focus on local rather than national representatives so we can address real concerns. Including Occupy representatives can reinforce the local emphasis and make it less of a "we against them" (Tea Party vs. Smart Growth/CNU folks) discussion. A key will be how the rules are set up for the discussion so that the focus is on issues and solutions.
»I certainly agree that the concerns the Tea Party and other conservatives have need to be discussed and debated. And I agree that CNU is the place to do that. However, I am not sure the Tea Party is going to last very much longer (past this election cycle). Engaging them as a group only legitimizes them.
»Howard, How about getting down into the nitty gritty and out ahead of objections from the public works and utility companies by demonstrating how the Public Utility Easement (PUE's) get modified along with the sanitary and storm sewers. I suggest you take a couple specific intersection with existing utilities and come up with a transition strategy. Reworking storm drain inlets is one of the big cost involved with basic bulb outs and curb extensions. Fooling around with older terra cotta sewer pipe can make sewer lateral modifications surprisingly expensive. Tackling these pesky details head on has the benefit of showing the utility staffers that you are considering how the big urban design move and value creation idea meets the ground and how it effects them. (they can be valuable allies and potent opponents.)
»Tea Party membership is concerned about ANY outsider influence in local matters -- whether it's UN 21, Smart Growth (as a governmental initiative), or parachuting consultants (those who travel from outside the local area to sell their snake oil). This attitude conflicts with NU, only where NU is being brought into a specific area from outside consultants (sorry Planmakers). But, where NU principals are shown as being truly beneficial to local economies -- i.e., where its core purpose is Localism -- you'll find NU warmly embraced by both the Tea Party and the Occupy movement. The NCI Charrette process, since it relies so heavily on local feedback, is a great mechanism to win the hearts of Tea Party hardliners.
»Sandy, I don't think it is as much about connecting with the Tea Party (or the OWS people for that matter) as it is understanding their core concerns and how the NU message naturally resonates with those concerns.
We lead with the right emphasis and the NU brand is a powerful one that should cut across all of the groups and demographics.
»NU needs to plug into power grids. The question is how much the Tea Party will continue to wield power. Their candidates are going down in flames so far. They are roundly blamed for the do-nothing Congress, the stalemates, the lack of action. Are there better groups to engage? Just asking.
»This is really important and, if we can't pull it off, I think it would be instructive nonetheless to have a CNU discussion on this. We have Tea Party members within the organization. The value here is not necessarily in reaching common ground but in understanding how to communicate a NU message to them in their terms and consistent with their values (which is not hard once you really understand their concerns).
In short, we need to educate ourselves because we can sometimes come across (wrong, in my opinion) as a bunch of liberal, elitists that loves trains, bikes and density for their own sake.
»Lisa, what we've encountered in our interaction with Tea Party officials is a deep schism between those who are Koch Brother (hard core organizer) Tea Party members, and those local folks who joined the movement to get things changed. The former is focused on a divide & conquer strategy using diversionary tactics, while the latter is most interested in building relationships that will further their goals.
»Sorry if this posts twice. I can try to get someone from Sarasota county, the problem is that there are two local tea parties masquerading as one. 95% are people with whom you can have a decent conversation . You may not change their minds totally, but you come away knowing that the edges are not as sharp. However, those with clout are a thin band of organizers who will not compromise. These folks will divert the conversation if you come close to middle ground - and usually divert with a topic that they know will get your goat. Let me know if you want names.
»Dean you are right and we've discussed including OWS previously, but need to follow through. Maybe OWS and TeaP can agree that top down AASHTO Green book mandates for wide streets and Fannie Mae mandates for separate use zoning are bad for America, left or right.
»Howard, how about engaging the Occupy movement also. Last week the Boise Tea Party came to our Occupy encampment, at our invitation, to talk over common ground. Though there are some obvious differences between Occupy and the Tea Party, there is a lot of common ground -- my sense, as a planner, was that this common ground centers a lot on localism issues (and its relationship to sustainable communities).
»Howard,
Great idea. I was heckled by an anti UN Charter 21 tea party man in Lancaster Pa. I told him I didn't like the UN telling us what to do either. I said "don't do what the UN tells you to do, just do what I tell you to do." I got him to almost laugh.
I agree with Sandy it should be a local. Newt charges 50k a speech unless he's campaigning which he won't be doing in Florida in May because the Fla. primary is 3 weeks from now.
»Great idea Sandy. We'll plan to do that.

Project Details

  1. Who's Listening?

Topics

Who's Listening?

Chuck Bohl

Chuck Bohl

CNU Local Host Committee

Charles C. Bohl is an associate professor and the director of the graduate program in Real Estate Development and Urbanism (MRED+U) at the University of Miami’s School of Architecture, where he directed the Knight Program in Community Building from 2000-2008. Dr. Bohl is an expert on place making, community building and mixed-use development. He is the author of Place Making: Developing Town Centers, Main Streets and Urban Villages, a best-selling book published by the Urban Land Institute now in its 5th printing. He co-edited (with Jean-Francois Lejuene) the book Sitte, Hegemann, And The Metropolis: Modern Civic Art And International Exchanges (Routledge, 2008). Chuck currently Chairs the Florida Chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism.
Chuck Bohl's Bio
Mike Busha

Mike Busha

CNU Local Host Committee

Michael Busha is a graduate of the Florida Institute of Technology, and has spent 29 years with the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council--the last 16 as its Executive Director. In this capacity he was principal author of Council’s landmark 1995 Strategic Regional Policy Plan for the Treasure Coast Region, which is the regional planning council’s business and investment plan for the Region’s economy and the environment. He has been involved in 95 different public planning charrettes for Council over the last 21 years which have contributed to making cities like Stuart, Fort Pierce, Delray Beach, Lake Worth, North Miami Beach, and West Palm Beach more desirable places to live and invest in. Under his leadership, the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council was awarded the first ever John Nolan Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to Urban Redevelopment in Florida and the 2007 Driehaus Award for Form Based Codes.Michael was recently named Conservationist of the Year by the Audubon Society of the Everglades.
Visit Treasure Coast Regional Planning's Site
Jaime Correa

Jaime Correa

CNU Local Host Committee

Jaime Correa is founding partner of Jaime Correa and Associates, a collaborative practice involved in urban design, town planning and architectural design projects of many types and scales. He is responsible for teaching and coordinating the world-renowned program in Suburb and Town Design at the University of Miami, where he is the Knight Professor in Community Building. He has been widely published and is the recipient of numerous urban planning awards stretching four continents—including the First Chinese Government Award to an American design firm outside China, a Progressive Architecture Award, a citation to represent the United States in the Bienal de Arquitectura in Chile, and numerous APA and AIA awards.
Jaime Correa's Bio
Victor Dover

Victor Dover

CNU Board

Urban designer and town planner Victor Dover, AICP, is a charter member of the Congress for the New Urbanism. As principal-in-charge of Dover, Kohl & Partners, Dover has won multiple CNU Charter Awards, including one for the widely praised town of I’On in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Dover-Kohl took home two awards from the CNU XV awards ceremony in Philadelphia, one for a traditional-neighborhood-based citywide plan for fast-growing Fayetteville, Arkansas, and the other for a brownfield redevelopment in Antigua, Guatemala, a joint submission with Castillo Arquitectos. Dover currently serves as Board Chair of CNU.
Victor Dover's Bio
Norman Garrick

Norman Garrick

CNU Board

Norman Garrick is Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Garrick is also a member of the national board of The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), trustee of the Tri-state Transportation Campaign, and co-chair of CNU’s Transportation Task Force. He specializes in the planning and design of urban transportation systems, including transit, streets and highways, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities, especially as they relate to sustainability, placemaking and urban revitalization. He is a 2008 recipient of the Transportation Research Board’s Wootan Award for Best Paper in policy and organization.
Norman Garrick's Bio
Eliza Harris

Eliza Harris

CNU Local Host Committee

Eliza Harris is coordinator of CNU Orlando, 2010 Chair of the Next Generation of New Urbanists, and a planner with Canin Associates. After completing a Masters of Urban Planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, she joined Canin Associates in Orlando, FL to lead the development of an alternative land use approach for the tri-county long range transportation plan that builds on successful regional visioning efforts. Eliza holds a degree in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College and is a member of the Congress for the New Urbanism and the American Planning Association.
CNU Next Gen
Jen Krouse

Jen Krouse

CNU Local Host Committee

Jennifer, a strategist and management consultant, is a graduate of Williams College and the Stockholm School of Economics. Since 2008, Jen has served as an independent consultant, applying classical business training and communications expertise to problems of strategic importance for firms that shape the built environment. Jen has been active in the CNU since 2008 and jointly organized CNU 19’s Open Source Congress with Jennifer Hurley.
CNU Next Gen
John Norquist

John Norquist

CNU Staff

John Norquist is the CEO & President of the Congress for the New Urbanism. While Mayor of Milwaukee from 1988-2004, Norquist oversaw a decline in poverty, saw a boom in new downtown housing, and established Milwaukee as a leading center of education and welfare reform. A leader in national discussions of urban design and educational issues, Norquist is the author of The Wealth of Cities, and has taught courses in urban policy and urban planning at the University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and at Marquette University.
John Norquist's Bio
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk

CNU Board

Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company is a leader in the national movement called the New Urbanism, which seeks to end suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment. The firm first received international recognition as the designer of Seaside, Florida, and has since completed designs and codes for over two-hundred new towns, regional plans, and community revitalization projects. DPZ's work is having a significant influence on the practice and direction of planning and development in the United States.
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk's Bio
Russell Preston

Russell Preston

CNU Board

As a developer and urbanist, Russell passionately works to improve our built and natural environment. Russell serves on the board of the CNU and is President of the New England chapter. As Design Associate for Cornish Associates, Russell is responsible for the design and planning aspects of the firm’s development work, such as Mashpee Commons and Downcity, Providence. Russell is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Miami master’s program in architecture and urban design. Russell is also an editor of “Living Urbanism” and a working artist.
Russell Preston's Bio
Heather Smith

Heather Smith

CNU Staff

Heather is an urban planner responsible for supporting the CNU Member Initiatives and planning the annual Congress program. Before joining CNU in 2005, she coordinated the Metropolis Plan activities for Chicago Metropolis 2020, a regional planning organization. Prior to working in Chicago, she received an American Planning fellowship to advance sustainable development and planning issues in the United States Senate. Heather holds a masters degree in urban planning and previously worked for the New York City Department of City Planning. Heather enjoys biking to work, sailing, swimming and kayaking in her free time.
Heather Smith's Bio
Dhiru Thadani

Dhiru Thadani

CNU Board

Dhiru A. Thadani, AIA, is an architect and urbanist. Since 1980 he has practiced architecture and urbanism in Asia, Europe and North and Central America. He was born in Bombay, India and moved to Washington, D.C. to attend the Catholic University of America from 1972-1978 where he received his undergraduate and graduate education in architecture. During his thirty-three years in Washington, D.C., he has taught, practiced, and has worked to place architecture and urbanism in the public eye. Since its formation in 1993, Dhiru has been a charter member of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), and was appointed to the Board in 2005. He is the author of The Language of Towns & Cities: A Visual Dictionary, published in 2010 by Rizzoli, and co-editor of Léon Krier: The Architecture of Community, published in 2009 by Island Press.
Dhiru Thadani's Bio

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