![“Arrival City, How the Largest Migration in History Reshaped Our World” by Doug Saunders](https://www.charactertowns.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Arrival-City-book-.jpg)
“Arrival City, How the Largest Migration in History Reshaped Our World” by Doug Saunders
Arrival City has many instructive ideas for the immigration-driven discussion today; and for those who plan cities. The U.S. used to get this right; and others in the world do so today. Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum in their 2011 book That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How […]
City Halls and Post Offices, The Essential Main Street Assets
Character towns view City hall as the downtown icon. Downtown doesn’t seem like downtown without a visible city hall, especially in a small town. City hall represents stability to citizens as they attend hearings, pay utility bills and meet with elected or appointed officials to discuss civic matters. City halls draw people together, downtown. Thankfully […]
![Design of Cities: Revised Edition by Edmund N. Bacon](https://www.charactertowns.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Design-cities-book-5.20-150x150.jpg)
Design of Cities: Revised Edition by Edmund N. Bacon
Character town planning benefits from Mr. Bacon’s work. Design of Cities is the book one should read when starting a career in design, any kind of design, but building and city design in particular. And, even though “design” is the topic, Mr. Bacon’s Philadelphia experiences permeate the book and strengthen his story. Mr. Bacon was the […]
![“Playing to Win, How Strategy Really Works” by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin](https://www.charactertowns.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Playing-to-win-book-513.jpg)
“Playing to Win, How Strategy Really Works” by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin
Strategy is the game. Michael Porter inspired A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin to write a book about strategy; namely, Playing to Win, How Strategy Really Works. Lafley and Martin present strategy as “an integrated cascade of choices” with five questions: “What are our winning aspirations? “Where will we play? “How will we win? “What capabilities […]
![The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability–Designing for Abundance by William McDonough and Michael Braungart](https://www.charactertowns.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/upcycle-McDonough-150x150.jpg)
The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability–Designing for Abundance by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
William McDonough is the best thinker and doer of our age. His work with Michael Braungart on Cradle to Cradle followed by this book offers an effective way to view the world and its ecosystem and economy. His creative combination of biology and technology yields practical concepts and products thatdon’t make things better, they make things good. […]
Be Strategic, Leverage Every Main Street Asset
The place where commercial, civic and residential lives converge. Downtown’s focus is main street; the street with public buildings, gathering places and active open spaces; the street with shops, restaurants, offices and housing. Main street is where all elements of the community converge; and each is essential. Successful downtowns are magical places. They are places […]
![Ten Principles for Reinventing America’s Suburban Strips by Michael D. Beyard and Michael Pawlukiewicz](https://www.charactertowns.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Ten-Principles-book-cover.jpg)
Ten Principles for Reinventing America’s Suburban Strips by Michael D. Beyard and Michael Pawlukiewicz
The Mission. The ugly, marginalized, dangerous commercial corridors found in almost every town in America are valuable assets waiting to be rediscovered. Their location and physical features are generally sound having survived years of miss- use, shoddy buildings and environmental abuse. But their locations and general suitability for development remain. The challenge is to see […]
![Designing Urban Corridors by Kirk R Bishop](https://www.charactertowns.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Designing-Urban-Corridors-book-cover.jpg)
Designing Urban Corridors by Kirk R Bishop
The literature that addresses the needs of urban corridors is sparse. The classic study was authored in 1989 by Kirk R. Bishop: Designing Urban Corridors. The paucity of studies is indicative of the general neglect of the subject, which reflects the general neglect of the resource – the corridors themselves. Urban corridors in many communities are the blighted […]
High Performance Development Corridors
The Thing about Commercial “Strips”. Prevailing conditions. First, let’s be clear about our subject. The corridors of which we speak areroadways with blight strewn along their sides in the form of marginal businesses, uninviting restaurants, vacant and poorly maintained buildings, a wide array of gaudy signs, random stormwater ponding, excessive driveway cuts and disorganized parking lots […]
![“State-Building, Governance and the New World Order in the 21st Century” by Francis Fukuyama](https://www.charactertowns.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Governance-Fukuyama.jpg)
“State-Building, Governance and the New World Order in the 21st Century” by Francis Fukuyama
State-Building, Governance and the New World Order in the 21st Century is a compact book written by Professor Fukuyama after 9/11 but before the global financial crisis of 2008. Yet, he grasps the fundamentals of the world and its order; and provides an enduring framework for analyzing individual nations and their interactions. He posits that the fundamental […]