Orlando City Commons Concept Plan
In 2013, the City of Orlando was completing the Dr. Philips Center in Downtown. The initial idea depended on a financial model that specified the properties in front of the Center along Orange Avenue must be sold for development: one on the northern edge, one on the southern edge creating a small, intimate space between […]
Master Downtown Systems: Technology Enhanced
DOWNTOWN IS A SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS. The very nature of a main street in a downtown is that of a master system. Whether likened to a retail shopping mall, a downtown partnershipor a ”main street”, the fact that many stores,restaurants, public offices, professional businesses and public open spaces are co- located in a small zone […]
![The Avenue. Why cities matter in an age of accelerations](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DxOMwsHF9-Y/hqdefault.jpg)
The Avenue. Why cities matter in an age of accelerations
“If you want to be an optimist, stand on your head. The world looks a lot better from the bottom up than it does from the top down.” In that phrase, said at a recent Brookings event, Tom Friedman succinctly captures the nature of American democracy and governance in the 21st century. As Friedman and […]
The Strategic Main Street: Everything Leveraged.
LEVERAGE PUBLIC BUILDINGS. City Hall must be on or near main street to get the full impact of its influence. Locating the city library, the local history museum, the post office and the community theater on or near main street is important to attract people and private investment downtown. Employees, patrons and visitors to public […]
Capturing the next economy: Pittsburgh’s rise as a global innovation city
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The Innovative, Tech-Driven Main Street.
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS: A SAMPLER. Technological innovations are washing over society at an unprecedented pace. Previous generations may have felt the same, but it does not matter, since today it feels overwhelming. The current generations are confronted with constant changes, “upgrades” and ways ofmoving about, buying and selling, communicating and interacting that are fundamentally different from […]
![Life Between Buildings, Using Public Space by Jan Gehl](https://www.charactertowns.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/978-1-61091-023-1-frontcover-Gehl-150x150.jpg)
Life Between Buildings, Using Public Space by Jan Gehl
Jan Gehl has put together an extended career doing urban workfocused on the human scale of cities…designing urban places andspaces for humans that travel at the speed of 5 kilometers an hour. His hometown of Copenhagen serves as a great platform for his discussion of walking and biking as the basis for an urban […]
The Authentic, Engaging and Social Main Street
THE PLACE WHERE COMMERCIAL, CIVIC AND RESIDENTIAL LIVES CONVERGE. Downtown’s focus is main street; the street with the commercial, office and public activities and uses. Downtowns also provide places for people to live in apartments, condominiums, nearby single-family neighborhoods and hotels. Every element is essential. Many main streets have a significant central park or waterfront. […]
![Ted Talks: Peter Calthorpe | 7 principles for building better cities](https://www.charactertowns.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Peter-Calthorpe-150x150.jpg)
Ted Talks: Peter Calthorpe | 7 principles for building better cities
More than half of the world’s population already lives in cities, and another 2.5 billion people are projected to move to urban areas by 2050. The way we build new cities will be at the heart of so much that matters, from climate change to economic vitality to our very well-being and sense of connectedness. Peter Calthorpe is […]
Character Main Streets
Character main streets are the essence of a small city or town. The city’s leaders, private, public and institutional, are positioned to develop main street as the social and economic center of the city. Downtown is where residents, business people and visitors come together for commerce, entertainment, education and social engagements, formal and informal. Relentless […]