“Creating significant residential opportunities downtown and the pioneering response of the people who took up the challenge of downtown living had an almost magical effect on the atmosphere downtown and encouraged more and more local entrepreneurs to take part.”
The Atlantic: “Asheville Just ‘Happened’ to Develop a Nice Downtown—or Did It?”
“Building inclusive, healthy, functional, and productive cities is perhaps the greatest challenge facing humanity today, and there are no easy solutions. A key part of the puzzle, though, lies right at the heart of the world’s urban areas: its public spaces.”
Project for Public Spaces: “Ten Strategies for Transforming Cities and Public Spaces through Placemaking”
“… the people that live in a neighborhood can jumpstart its revitalization in a single weekend, armed with nothing more than their energy, ideas and donated materials.”
Next City: “How One Weekend in Dallas Sparked a Movement for Urban Change”
“… every place we’ve been, every one we’ve talked with about downtowns stresses the crucial importance of getting people to live there.”
The Atlantic: “Nice Downtowns: How Did They Get That Way?”
“The theory follows that places thrive when they have a range of reasons (10+) to spend time in them, with no use or user group allowed to dominate.”
Project for Public Spaces: “The Power of 10+: Applying Placemaking at Every Scale”
“The whole idea of Trail Town is to get people that are doing recreational activities to begin and end their activity in town. In our case, they can come over to the Visitor’s Center; they can rent a canoe,kayak or bike. We also have some individual entrepreneurs that are renting boats and bicycles also.”
Renew Appalachia: “First official Trail Town in eastern Kentucky wants to develop economy around designation”
“The winners of the 2015 American Institute of Architects Library Awards reflect how libraries are adapting—how they’re investing in technology and trying to reframe themselves as vital community gathering spaces.”
“Not surprisingly, provision of better quality bike lanes was identified as the key to increasing how often people hit the road: 54 percent of respondents said fear of getting hit by a car or truck is what holds them back, and 46 percent said they would be more likely to ride if a physical barrier separated bike lanes from car lanes.”
Urbanful: “Why biking to work is a barrier for most Americans”
“Embodying the commons principle that the places we live, work and play belong to us all, placemaking emphasizes that citizens must be involved in all aspects of shaping projects in their communities.”
On the Commons: “Placemaking—What exactly does it mean?”
“As we’ve traveled around the country, we’ve become stronger and stronger believers in the connection between the condition of a city’s downtown district, and the overall state of the city’s economy and culture.”
The Atlantic: “Stages of a Downtown Comeback: Fresno Begins the Long Climb”