ARTICLES
The Original Articles archives of CharacterTowns.org presents papers that discuss practical and conceptual ideas for designing, building and managing character towns and small cities that are interesting, pleasant and prosperous places for residents, businesses and visitors.
A photo essay on coral reef restoration efforts in Florida
from Yale’s Climate Connections Over the past 40 years, nearly 90 percent of live corals on reefs in the Florida Keys have been lost. Worldwide, tropical coral reef coverage has declined by 30% to 50% since the 1980s as climate change raises temperatures, sea levels, and ocean acidity. Authors of a recent study predict catastrophic […]
A Quintessential Character Town: Harrodsburg KY.
HISTORY. First town west of the mountains, 1836. Settled by Daniel Boone and James Harrod. Harrodsburg is a free-standing town in the sense that is not a suburb of a larger town. It is some 60 miles southeast of Louisville. Lexington is 25 miles to the northeast, connected to Harrodsburg by a National Geographic Scenic […]
A Quintessential Character Town: Palatka, Florida.
Palatka with its downtown civic buildings, museums, hotel and parks in the midst of its historic and affordable neighborhoods is becoming a quintessential character town. Palatka is a city in Putnam County, Florida, United States. The population was 10,558 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Putnam County. Palatka is the principal […]
A Quintessential Character Town: Tavares, “America’s Seaplane City”.
Founded in 1880 by Alexander St. Clair-Abrams, a newspaper and railroad man from a Creole family in New Orleans. He gave it the surname of a Portuguese ancestor. In 1883 a post office was established; then a hotel, three stores, a sawmill, and eight cottages; the city was incorporated in 1919. FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail
A Quintessential Character Town, Oakland FL
OAKLAND, FL — The Town of Oakland is proud to announce the opening of the Healthy West Orange Arts and Heritage Center at the Town of Oakland. Visitors of the Center will have the chance to explore the inaugural exhibition, “Est. 1887,” and rediscover Oakland’s rich history. The Healthy West Orange Arts and Heritage Center […]
A Quintessential Character Town…Sulphur Springs TX
Two years of collaborative planning produced a $6.3 million renewal of the rural city’s four-acre civic square and main streets. Like many small cities, Sulphur Springs’ (population 15,000) downtown faced a slow decline, and development shifted to its perimeter following the 1970s construction of nearby interstate I-30 and the conversion of its main streets to […]
A Reminder…The sources of greenhouse gases can be grouped into five categories
Transportation is the biggest, perhaps electric vehicles will reduce this number, over time. Hydrogen is still on the list. Electricity generation is second. The chart below shows the contribition of renewable sources to the generation of electricty. Industrial greenhouse gas emissions primarily come from burning fossil fuels for energy, as well as greenhouse gas emissions […]
A Reminder…The sources of greenhouse gases can be grouped into five categories
• Transportation is the biggest, perhaps electric vehicles will reduce this number, over time. Hydrogen is still on the list. • Electricity generation is second. The chart below shows the contribition of renewable sources to the generation of electricity. • Industrial greenhouse gas emissions primarily come from burning fossil fuels for energy, as well as […]
A Suggested Student Academic Career Guide
Purpose of this Guide. The planning department faculty and its advisory council members are very interested in the success of every planning student. This guide conveys the thoughts of the planning practitioners on the advisory council to planning students at the beginning of their academic career. The importance of this early information is to enable […]
A Swiss River Canal Reimagined. Geneva
Flowing through the idyllic southwestern tip of Switzerland is the Aire, a small river that winds through the countryside close to Geneva, then across the French border, through the village of San-Julien-en-Genevois. This temperamental ribbon of water has been a major flood risk to the region’s agriculture and neighboring towns: it was reined in by […]
About NOAA Climate.gov
Mission NOAA Climate.gov provides science and information for a climate-smart nation. Americans’ health, security, and economic well-being are closely linked to climate and weather. People want and need information to help them make decisions on how to manage climate-related risks and opportunities they face. NOAA Climate.gov is a source of timely and authoritative scientific data […]
Active Ground Floors: What to do with all that Space on Main St?
THE PURPOSE. Buildings in main street’s “active zone” with ground floor uses and activities that are open for business during extended hours enable and expand downtown street life. Shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, entertainment venues and educational studios invite people downtown for reasons beyond work. Main street becomes a “third place” that enhances the sociability of […]
Affordable Housing: An Approach for Creating and Keeping an Affordable Housing Inventory.
THE HOUSEHOLD INCOME-EXPENSE SQUEEZE. Providing affordable housing for the town’s residents is the challenge of the day. Middle and low income workers are getting hit from both ends: stagnant wages and rising housing costs. As the cost of housing is going up, so is the cost of transportation, medicine, healthcare and education. Wages are stagnant. […]
Affordable Housing Policies and Programs
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS. Many local and state governments have programs that supplement federal efforts; sometimes in collaboration and sometimes independently. APA Learning publishes case studies of local efforts and has recently offered: Clovis CA’s “Cottage Home Program”, Charlotte NC’s “A New Model for Collaboration” and Minneapolis MN’s “Addressing Racial Housing Disparities”: https://www.planning.org/apalearn/. FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail
Affordable Housing: The “Transect”, ADUs and “Missing Middle” Housing.
THREE COMPLIMENTARY IDEAS. The Transect and Missing Middle Housing both rely on judgments about scale and intensity that lead to compatible uses that address housing issues. Compatibility, balance, transition and adjacencies challenge urban development decisions as the transect is used to locate and design accessory dwelling units [ADUs] and “missing middle” housing. Previous generations lived […]
AIF Florida Water Forum 2021
The 11th Annual Florida Water Forum will be held September 30 – October 1 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando. The issues surrounding water and environmental policy are of critical importance to the future of Florida. Our business climate, ability to grow as a state and our quality of life are all directly […]
How architects and designers collaborate, AIGA Article
Living in an Urban World: how do architects and designers collaborate? Architects and graphic designers have long records of working together. Many large architectural firms offer environmental graphic design services through their own in-house design teams. Firms such as Pentagram and IDEO are confederations of integrated design disciplines. As one examines professional practices, it is […]
Air Quality Index (AQI)
The U.S. AQI is EPA’s index for reporting air quality. How does the AQI work? Think of the AQI as a yardstick that runs from 0 to 500. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and the greater the health concern. For example, an AQI value of 50 or below […]
Alibaba Robots at work
Take a look inside Alibaba’s smart warehouse where robots do 70% of the work. They can carry up to 500 kilograms above them around the warehouse floor. They have special sensors to avoid colliding into each other and they can be summoned using wifi. When they run out of battery, they can take themselves to […]
Aligning “Communities of Place” with “Communities of Interest”
NEIGHBORHOODS USED TO BE OUR COMMUNITY OF PLACE AND INTEREST. The neighborhood, whether in the suburbs or the city, was the place that dominated our lives. Neighborhood streets, parks and school grounds used to be the places where people, especially kids, spent their “free” time. People historically focused their activities closer to home, be they […]