Public-private partnerships are a key source of funding for parks, even in cities with generous park budgets.  “No matter how well funded a city’s parks are, they still need some help,” said Andy Wiley-Schwartz, vice president at Project for Public Spaces. “Having community stewards is priceless, and every city knows that, whether they fund parks or not.”

"Move more people, not vehicles.

Create better passageways that connect into existing roads rather than increase asphalt lanes.

Develop plans that are sensitive to existing roads, neighborhoods and land uses.

Above all: Include the public in conversations with engineers from the very beginning.

It seems simple enough, but the basic tenets of Context Sensitive Design are relatively new to transportation planners."

"Inserting a tall building into a neighborhood of mostly two- to six-story buildings is a recipe for conflict. Where some see revitalization and an expanded tax base, others see architectural Armageddon: loss of human scale, more traffic and parking headaches, dark shadows on the streets.

But what if the lanky newcomer is shapely, not hulking?

What if it re-energizes a sagging business district and contributes to the long-term health of a neighborhood?"

The central location and the expanse of space to facilitate a variety of different uses are getting people excited about the newly proposed City Plaza in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, despite the fact that it will cut through a well-used street.

A public park and art space is set to open next week along Seattle's waterfront, replacing a former brownfield site. The new Olympic Sculpture Park was created by the Seattle Art Museum, an expansion of which is set to open in May.

Image (c) Paul Warchol

"Even as our farmland has been devoured by suburban sprawl, Californians have voted with their shopping bags to make farmers' markets an increasingly ubiquitous element in big cities, small towns and, yes, even those suburbs that pave fields of vegetables. Beyond the showcase pavilion of San Francisco's Ferry Building -- an orgy of organic gourmet comestibles for the deep-pocketed foodie -- more modest farmers' markets have sprung up in the darnedest places, including the empty lot behind Target in Serramonte Plaza in Daly City and on the banks of the Russian River in the hamlet of Duncans Mills."

The Connecticut Department of Transportation continues to put forward projects that are eyesores and disrupt communities without public involvement, according to Toni Gold's commentary in the Hartford Courant.  While many transportation engineers are aware of  the 'context sensitive solutions' movement, CTDOT continues to build transportation projects without linking them to land use planning.

"While it seems that "clone town Britain" is on the rise, with independent retailers slowly vanishing at the expense of supermarkets and chain stores, the market remains a feature of many city centres. However, their continuing presence has not been without a battle. With supermarkets offering convenient one-stop shopping, markets are beginning to suffer."

U.S. cities are increasingly putting freeway segments underground and covering them with parkland. Whether called a lid, deck, bridge or tunnel, there are already some 20 highway parks in the country, several under construction — most notably, the Rose Kennedy Greenway park atop Boston’s Big Dig — and at least a dozen more in the planning pipeline. As urban auto impacts become less welcome, these decks have moved from the novel to the expected. Despite the sometimes considerable cost — as much as $500 per square foot — they are no longer classified as porkbarrel. They’ve been redefined as amenity investment with high economic payback.

The City of San Diego will be honored with the Entrepreneurial American Community Award for the city's 25 years of collaboration with Partners for Livable Places/San Diego on quality of life improvements and community building practices. This prestigious award will be presented by Washington, D.C.-based Partners for Livable Communities.

Fred Kent and Kathy Madden appear in a new DVD released by PLP, "The Thirty-Four Great Waterfronts of the World, and What San Diego May Learn From Them."

Read the full press release and find out more about the DVD here.

These centers of wisdom are not just about books anymore. They're diversifying - and designers are focusing on their social role

In the 15 months since it opened, San Francisco's Octavia Boulevard has been hailed as a model for other cities. It has been honored at the local and national level, including an award last month from the American Planning Association.

But here's the real measure of success: The thoroughfare that replaced the elevated Central Freeway feels like it belongs. It's not perfect, but it keeps cars moving while making the neighborhood around it a better place to be.

Efforts are underway to refurbish, rethink and rejuvenate Denver's aging Civic Center park, boosting its profile and transforming it into a more desirable destination by improving accessibility and security and giving residents and tourists more reasons to visit.

Though the plan has been endorsed by most parties, it has also generated emotional debate by preservationists, and members of the public who feel they were not engaged in the decision making process. 

Inspired by the example of Columbia University in New York, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and other urban colleges that are improving campuses and "their gritty surroundings," the University of Houston (UH) is planning a similar smart-growth overhaul of its 550-acre main campus, whose 62 parking lots will be converted into garages, classrooms, offices, dense housing, shops, and restaurants.

Unlike many other colleges that have grown up around a town, the University of Connecticut is located near a town that is not much more than handfull of business in a strip mall. To make the school more appealing to students who are looking for off-campus options for shopping, dining and entertainment, UConn is planning to construct a new town.