As part of an upcoming article, I ventured out to Phoenix/Tempe to see a demonstration of the Decision Theater at Arizona State University. The Decision Theater is a high-tech space where images can be projected on screens encompassing three of four walls in the room. It is a planner’s dream – being surrounded on three sides by plans projected on three full walls – mmmmm, plans. With technology like the Decision Theater, it is possible for a group of people to compare different development plans, see them from above, obliquely, or actually navigate down streets or sidewalks, in between buildings,…

Dateline Phoenix…. Light rail isn’t the first thing that comes to mind in this sprawling city in the desert, with its vistas of distant mountains simmering in the heat. But when service began in late December, it seems the people of Phoenix have indeed jumped at the chance to jump on board the shiny new silver trains. In the words of Bob the Builder – “Can we ride it?” “Yes we can!” When I found out I had a meeting at Arizona State University in Tempe, it came to my attention that light rail had just opened and that it…

When I visited Atlanta on a rainy day last month after the Obama election, I had no idea I’d be visiting the Sweet Auburn district of the city. I was just up the street from Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor. He was born in Atlanta. I didn’t expect to be at the center of black history at the very moment when that history was being rewritten. It was quite humbling. Sweet Auburn is in the shadow of downtown Atlanta. Auburn Avenue, the main commercial street running through Sweet Auburn, was once considered the richest African…

Let me tell you about my favorite NIMBY story. Exactly where it happened and who was involved matters not here, as this story offers many lessons. And by “favorite,” I don’t mean to imply that I like the ending, rather I do wish it turned out different for all involved. As most of you know, NIMBY stands for Not In My Back Yard, and refers to those opposed to a proposed development. It is typically a new real estate development, and the NIMBYs are typically nearby residents who don’t like the height of the proposed building or some element (real…

What do St. Louis, Atlanta and Minneapolis have in common? In all three cities, one can take the train from the airport directly to the downtown. What do Newark, Baltimore and Milwaukee have in common? You can fly in to their airport, and take a train to other cities. Continental Airlines offers a codeshare service by rail from Newark to New Haven, Stamford, Philadelphia and Wilmington. Milwaukee is effectively a third Chicago airport. If you are in the Loop, it is 35 minutes to Midway on the Orange line, an hour (often more) to O’Hare on the Blue line, and…

In late October I flew in to Miami for the fall meeting of the Urban Land Institute. I was there for four days, and rather than stay in a hotel, I chose to rent a condo in Miami Beach, about one mile from the convention center. I always try to better get to know a city when I travel, and staying in a condo nestled in a neighborhood is a great start. I scouted the condo carefully, using www.vrbo.com, a vacation rentals website, Walkscore, and checking out transit options. I needed to have a nice place to sleep, have a…

One of the highlights of my summer was a helicopter tour of the CenterPoint Intermodal Center in Elwood, Illinois. Covering 2,500 acres, CIC-Elwood, as is it called, is one of the largest integrated logistics centers in the country. It includes an intermodal terminal for the transfer of containers from train to truck, and 8 million square feet of distribution warehouses. You can read more about it at the ULI Case Studies website, but you’ll need a subscription to do so. It was a gorgeous June morning. I met representatives from CenterPoint Properties at their Oak Brook offices in suburban Chicago.…

A friend in Australia sent me a link to a great urban project in Seoul, South Korea. In 2005 the Cheonggyecheon River in Seoul was restored as a natural and public amenity. The river had previously been tunneled with an elevated freeway built on top of it, but in a move that would make John Norquist proud, the mayor of Seoul championed an effort to restore the river and create a wonderful urban gathering place. Click here to see for yourself on Picasaweb. The photos were taken by a friend of mine, Suzanne Burrows, who curretnly lives in Seoul. Remember…

I was captivated by a lecture given last year by Jan Gehl, a noted architect and urbanist whose firm, Gehl Architects, is based in Copenhagen. I did a little research on his work in Melbourne, Australia. The result of that research appeared in the October issue of Urban Land magazine. Read Melbourne Reborn here. The city has rejeuvenated its center over the past 25 years with a combination of planning and incentives. What I like most about the process is the surveys the city has conducted every ten years to track changes to the quality and livibility of the urban…

I wrote a recent article that appeared in the September issue of Urban Land magazine on Niteroi, a city located near Rio de Janeiro. The city, with the help of Morris Architects, has been doing extensive planning for redevelopment, particularly along their waterfront. Read the Niteroi article here. Accompanying that article is an agreement between architects in the United States and Brazil to pursue sustainable development. Read the green protocol article here (note, the article is on page 2 of the document, page 39 of the magazine).