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.
Multi-Disciplinary Urban Design Studios
Design studios are inherently collaborative. Organization of a multi-discipline design studio is an important addition to any community. Design studios can be sponsored by academic institutions such as the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative described below; or the Chattanooga Design Studio which is “an independent non-profit community resource that promotes excellence in urban design through education, facilitation, […]
Multi-Modal Mobility
Getting Anyone Anywhere Anytime, Safely and Cheaply. Citywide Mobility. City streets host a wide variety of uses and activities throughout town; especially downtown where they are totally dependent on accessibility. Main street civic and private businesses live or die based on the ease of access to their front door. Having a library or museum on main street […]
Multi-modal Mobility: A True Synergy
Multi-modal Mobility offers a true synergy for a transportation system in an urban environment. A comprehensive system of transportation options creates a mobility system that allows anyone to travel throughout the city anywhere at any time. Such a comprehensive system is available in only the biggest cities, but smaller cities and towns can use transit, […]
Multi-Modal Mobility: Getting Anyone, Anywhere, Safely and Cheaply
Citywide Mobility. City streets host a wide variety of uses and activities throughout town; especially downtown where they are totally dependent on accessibility. Main street civic and private businesses live or die based on the ease of access to their front door. Having a library or museum on main street that is not easily accessible […]
Multi-Modal Planning and System Management
VISION OF THE TOWN’S MOBILITY SYSTEM. A basic idea is that every resident, employee and visitor in a town with character can travel safely, conveniently and inexpensively anywhere in town at any time. At its essence, mobility is about moving people and goods, not vehicles. The point is to apply the right transpotation mode to the appropriate trip type to maximize […]
Multiple Benefits of Co-Located Neighborhood Venues
“Multiple Benefits” is a great concept in normal times; in times of economic stress, it is an exceptional concept. The basic idea is that a single action can produce more than one benefit. One dollar of expense, if thoughtfully expended, can produce more than one dollar’s worth of value, or benefit. FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail
Multiple extreme climate events can combine to produce catastrophic damages.
From Yale Climate Connections Concurrent extreme climate events can amount to a challenging ‘two-fer’ or even a ‘three-fer’ in terms of adverse impacts. By Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, and Richard Richels | Friday, October 9, 2020 “Wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington are this year’s poster children for extreme natural disasters. Hardly a day passed […]
Museums: Launching Pads for the Future.
A REFLECTION OF DOWNTOWN VALUES. Museums can be about anything; mostly they are about the values of the host community. The local history museum is a great place to pass the values and importance of the town from one generation to the next. Museums can celebrate people and events that need to be honored; they […]
Museums, Launching Pads for the Future.
A Reflection of Downtown Values. Museums can be about anything; mostly they are about the values of the host community. The local history museum is a great place to pass on the values and importance of the town from one generation to the next. Museums can celebrate people and events that need to be honored; […]
THE ERA OF e-commerce, An NAIOP Article
Today’s industrial users are looking beyond rental rates to consider transportation and inventory carrying costs when making location decisions. THE ERA OF e-commerce began unceremoniously in July 1995, when Jeff Bezos boxed up the first book sold on Amazon.com from his Seattle garage. Over time, nearly all major retailers began selling and shipping items from their own […]
National Association for Olmsted Parks.
The National Association for Olmsted Parks (NAOP), established in 1980, is a coalition of design and preservation professionals, historic property and park managers, scholars, municipal officials, citizen activists, and representatives of numerous Olmsted organizations around the United States. Its concern is the legacy of landscape work left by Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. and the firm […]
National Brownfields Training Conference
From Center for Creative Land Recycling CT.org has recently discovered that there are many benefits accruing to properties in a designated “brownfield” area, especially for those properties not actually contaminated. Abeyance of fees is a big one along with eligibility for grants and regulatory relief. Check it out. FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail
National Climate Report – September 2021
From CT.org…This report, like all NOAA reports, is chock full of data about temperatures, rainfall and other climate data. Check out the full report at the cited web address below. FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail
National Climate Report – September 2022
From CT.org…This report, like all NOAA reports, is chock full of data about temperatures, rainfall and other climate data. Check out the full report at the cited web address below. NOAA issues the National Climate Report every November. Check it out. FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail
Why Obsolete Warehouses on the ‘Last Mile’ Are Attracting Institutional Investors
Why Obsolete Warehouses on the ‘Last Mile’ Are Attracting Institutional Investors, a National Real Estate Investor Article Every $1 billion in e-commerce sales requires 1.25 million sq. ft. of distribution space, said Scott Marshall, executive managing director of advisory and transaction services | investor leasing with CBRE, during a meeting of the Chicago chapter of NAIOP […]
Nearly Every Country Signs On to a Sweeping Deal to Protect Nature
From NYT…Roughly 190 nations, aiming to halt a dangerous decline in biodiversity, agreed to preserve 30 percent of the planet’s land and seas. The United States is not officially a participant. MONTREAL, Quebec — Roughly 190 countries early on Monday approved a sweeping United Nations agreement to protect 30 percent of the planet’s land and […]
Neighborhood Association Business Plans.
INTRODUCTION. A business plan for a neighborhood association may seem unusual or even too much, but consider that an association has costs, sources of revenue and possibly a future. If so, planning for a secure source of revenue to meet costs over a number of years seems to make sense. THE SOURCES AND USES OF […]
Neighborhood Cafés
Neighborhood Cafés, markets and delicatessens in established neighborhoods is a great community asset; but introducing new cafes into an established neighborhood is nearly impossible. When existing cafés are present, they are generally accepted and valued; but new ones find opposition; partly because established neighborhoods do not want to risk a bad outcome. Setting standards, trusting […]
Neighborhood Centers as “Third Places”
NEIGHBORHOOD THIRD PLACES. Ray Oldenburg, see sidebar, effectively describes gathering spots that serve as “third places”; places where people relax and commune; the “in-between” places, not work, not home. His idea extends from small town cafés and diners to big city “Cheers” bars. Entry is freely accessible to customers, visitors and a regular clientele; no […]
Neighborhood Centers as “Third Places”.
NEIGHBORHOOD THIRD PLACES. Ray Oldenburg, see sidebar, effectively describes gathering spots that serve as “third places”; places where people relax and commune; the “in-between” places, not work, not home. His idea extends from small town cafés and diners to big city “Cheers” bars. Entry is freely accessible to customers, visitors and a regular clientele; no […]