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.
The Simplest Tool for Improving Cities Is Also Free
“Ms. Hendren is an artist and design researcher, a professor at Olin College of Engineering and the author of “What Can a Body Do? How We Meet the Built World.” “CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — For decades, a stretch of Memorial Drive here that runs along the Charles River has been closed to automobiles on Sundays for […]
The Social Infrastructure Aspiration of the City’s General Plan
Leveraging Physical Assets to Create Community Civility and Sociability. The vision of most small cities and towns in America, however expressed, is to be an interesting, pleasant and prosperous place for residents, businesses and visitors. A strong social infrastructure system is essential with: FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail
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 […]
The United States Conference of Mayors
According to a recent communication from the American City & County Government Update, “electric vehicles listed as top priority by mayors in new U.S. Conference of Mayors report.” FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail
“The Upcycle” by William McDonough
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The Wealth of Humans
The Wealth of Humans presents a fine argument for building human capital and leveraging it to strengthen all cities, including small cities and towns. [embeddoc url=”https://www.charactertowns.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/The-Wealth-of-Humans-10-2016.pdf” width=”100%” download=”all” viewer=”google”] FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail
The West Orange Trail, Winter Garden FL.
The City of Winter Garden was established in 1903. During most of the twentieth century, the City and its region were the central focus of Florida’s citrus industry. The City had several citrus processing plants with truck and rail lines to move the various types of citrus into the City for processing and out of […]
There’s a 750 Mile Bike Trail in New York.
From the New York Times “Last December, the Empire State Trail — a sprawling, 750-mile cyclist and pedestrian route that connects Buffalo to Albany and New York City to the Canadian border, forming what looks like a sideways T — opened to the public. Considering the pandemic bike boom, the timing was perfect. About 400 […]
There’s a 750 Mile Bike Trail in New York
Last December, the Empire State Trail — a sprawling, 750-mile cyclist and pedestrian route that connects Buffalo to Albany and New York City to the Canadian border, forming what looks like a sideways T — opened to the public. Considering the pandemic bike boom, the timing was perfect. About 400 miles of greenways, repurposed rail […]
Thinking About Thinking.
THE NEW DECADE. As the “teens” become the “twenties”, a pause is permitted to contemplate to past and the future. Rather than add to the plethora of prognostications proliferating on-line, in journals and television, the challenge may relate to process related outcome. BEING THOUGHTFUL IS THE IMPORTANT SKILL. It is useful to understand different types […]
Thinking for a Living: Preparing to Solve Known Problems, Being Ready for Unanticipated Events and Taking Advantage of Opportunities.
Thinking. Every professional regards her/himself as a thinker, a thoughtful person ready to tackle the problems of the day. In general, little time is devoted to thinking about thinking, thinking about the tools available to think about problems and thinking about the various types of problems to be tackled. The purpose of this paper is […]
This Is the Best Size for a Porch
CT.org…Southern Living has figured out porch sizing for small homes. The article below describes a minimum 6-foot depth with the width a function of the home façade design. CT.org aspires to a bigger porch that, as Southern Living describes, is in essence a room in and of itself. Therefore, our standard is that the porch […]
This is what sea level rise will do to coastal cities
Sea level rise is already redrawing coastlines around the world. What happens when the coast retreats through a major city? We look at how the world map will change in the year 2100, and what coastal cities can do to defend themselves. FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail
Top 10 planning practices for making things happen in rural and small towns
CT.org…The following article offers ways for rural towns to fight regression and stabilize their social and economic systems. However, the presumption is that rural towns have the resources, economic and civic, to activate the needed actions. Free-standing, rural communities not connected to a larger metro area have few options for arresting their decline; but, they […]
Top 50 Cities for Global Trade
Top 50 Cities for Global Trade published by Global Trade Magazine presents the evolution of global cities. The article can be found at www.globaltrademag.com/features/top-50-cities-for-global-trade. In excerpt, it says, “Aug 8, 2012 – The overall ranking lists the 50 largest metropolitan areas by export volume. … Global trade takes all of us–in cities large and small–doing our best and making …. The area is well positioned to do business with […]
TOWN SQUARE City of Boynton Beach FL
Town Square is a 16-acre site in downtown Boynton Beach. The project includes the renovation of the historic Boynton Beach High School into a cultural center, residential and retail spaces, a hotel, playground, amphitheater, open spaces, parking garages, a fire station and a new city hall with a new library. Read more on “Town Square” […]
Transformative infrastructure funding is here. The application process for getting it still needs work.
Brookings has a terrific article on the status of the process for small cities and towns to access federal infrastructure funding; although still unresolved, there are things to do to get in line. A tangential point is that state governments are becoming more important. CT.org expected state governments to whither with growing irrelevance leaving the […]
Robots Take On the Final Mile
Robots Take On the Final Mile Imagine if the next time you place an order for delivery from your favorite local restaurant, you’re greeted at your door not by a person but by an urban delivery robot. It’s an odd-looking little vehicle that resembles a cooler with wheels, but with an antenna and sensors. The […]
The Business Sector Worries about Affordable Housing
CharacterTowns.org mined recent articles, focusing on affordable housing and concerns of the industrial sector. In all of the articles, the problem is defined as a shortage in the supply of affordable housing. The authors offer examples of action programs that are improving the affordability of housing to low and middle income families from cities and […]
TravelCenters of America to Add Hydrogen Fueling Sites for Big Rigs
From the Wall Street Journal “Truck-stop operator TravelCenters of America Inc. is stepping up its alternative-energy game as tougher regulations push the commercial transport sector to look beyond diesel fuel. “TravelCenters, the largest publicly traded U.S. truck-stop company, said Thursday it is forming a new business unit called eTA that aims to eventually supply drivers […]