Do you have the ‘place gene’?
URBAN EDGE : January 17, 2021
Urban planners and designers sometimes think they have an exclusive “lock” on an understanding of place. But in fact everybody can develop their own “place gene.”
Big-city planners shouldn’t overlook the lessons of small-town design
URBAN EDGE : November 18, 2020
Influenced by the Garden City movement, Badin, North Carolina, is a small gem of urban planning whose design called for green space, residential areas and commercial development in proportionate amounts. The planning of small towns like Badin can serve as an example for larger cities as they continue to grow.
Playing on fears of crime and poverty by playing up the myth of the suburbs
URBAN EDGE : November 2, 2020
The image of the suburbs as being home to only white and wealthy residents whose ‘suburban lifestyle dream’ is being threatened doesn’t square with the reality of American life in 2020. Half of Black Americans live in the suburbs, which are much more diverse — both racially and economically — than many urban areas.
I vote because my father and grandfather couldn’t
URBAN EDGE : October 28, 2020
Roland B. Smith Jr. is from Washington, D.C., whose residents weren’t allowed to vote in a presidential election until 1964. Growing up, his mother would travel almost 500 miles by bus or train from D.C. to Asheville, North Carolina, where she grew up, just to vote. Roland B. Smith Jr. always votes.
How to remove a statue rather than topple it
URBAN EDGE : October 19, 2020
In the past four-plus months, many cities have been confronted with renewed outcries to remove offensive or ‘problem’ monuments that commemorate values of a bygone era. In some cases, these statues have been forcibly removed. In the latest essay in his ongoing series of stories about cities and why they are great, Bill Fulton revisits how Ventura, California, handled the controversy surrounding a statue of Father Junipero Serra.
Let’s fund parks like the essential infrastructure they are
URBAN EDGE : October 16, 2020
Great public spaces are equitable places that bring people who are not the same together. Cities need to think bigger when it comes to funding parks, trails, libraries and other civic assets because the return on investment can be huge.
Pandemic pivot: My favorite street is closed to cars — but open to people
URBAN EDGE : October 7, 2020
Main Street in Ventura, California, which has been closed to cars and opened to restaurants and other businesses affected by the coronavirus, is my favorite street. This essay is both a discussion of what makes a great street and a personal reminiscence about what this particular street means to me.
We’ll overcome COVID-19, but can we overcome 400 years of wrongs?
URBAN EDGE : September 22, 2020
There has been a lot of discussion and speculation about the future of cities and how they will change following the pandemic. What will that future look like for Black Americans, who have been abused, exploited, ground down and lied to in the past? As we move into the future, what will change? And what will stay the same?
Residential segregation rewards whites while punishing people of color
URBAN EDGE : September 21, 2020
From 1980 to 2015, homes in white neighborhoods increased in value, on average, $194,000 more than in neighborhoods of color, according to new research. And the rate of the gap in assessed values of these comparable homes in comparable neighborhoods is getting larger over time.