Building a Sense of Community
How do we build a “sense of community”? That’s a question many planning commissioners ask. Long-time planner and Planning Comm’rs Journal columnist Greg Dale offers his thoughts
Livable Communities
Articles and postings focusing on different ways in which we can plan for more livable communities for all our citizens.
Continue to older articles & posts — or return to newer ones — where you see the green buttons at the bottom of the page.
Planning for Dogs: Exercise vs. Restraint
Amy Souza reports on the often controversial issue of dog park siting, and the environmental and planning concerns frequently raised.
Current Planning Issues: Smart Growth
Planning Commissioners Journal columnist Greg Dale takes a look at two words that have been sweeping the nation: “smart growth.”
Creating Places that Work
Kathleen Madden of Project for Public Spaces discusses “placemaking” and the role of the community in creating vibrant public spaces.
To Market, To Market
Local farmers’ markets provide one of the best ways of increasing downtown activity, while offering a valuable outlet for area farmers. Author and lecturer Roberta Brandes Gratz takes a closer look at the role farmers’ markets can play — and why they’ve become so popular.
Barriers to Better Development
Despite a growing number of innovative development projects around the country, PCJ columnist Ed McMahon still finds a number of persistent barriers to better development.
School Sprawl
One of the most important, but often overlooked, contributors to sprawl is the construction of large educational facilities in outlying, undeveloped areas. Edward McMahon takes a look at some of the causes of “school sprawl” — and at some efforts to combat it.
New Development, Traditional Patterns
A dramatic shift in the design and layout of new developments has begun to take hold in cities across North America. Called new urbanism, this movement draws on older patterns of development. Planning reporter Philip Langdon provides an introduction to new urbanism.
Making a “Visible” Difference
What does it take to transform a community from Anyplace, USA into someplace special? Ed McMahon looks at five ways of making a visible difference.
Smart Growth Trends
What do suburban town centers, green space as a residential amenity, open space systems, downtown housing, and cooperation between developers and environmentalists have in common?
Our Vanishing “Third Places”
Informal neighborhood gathering places were, for many years, an integral part of our cities and towns. Since World War II, they’ve been vanishing. An exploration of why “third places” are so important to the health of our communities.
Community Land Trusts: An Introduction
Community land trusts are offering an increasing number of communities a way of developing long-term affordable housing. An introduction to the role community land trusts can play.
Center-ing Our Suburbs
Encouraging mixed-use centers is one way of reducing suburban dependence on the automobile. How existing underutilized shopping areas can be converted into such centers, providing a mix of commercial, office, and residential uses, as well as improved pedestrian and transit access.
