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Lambertville, New Jersey. Photo credit: Caroline Armstrong

Putting the Livability Agenda Back in Place

By Gary Toth on Jun 8, 2010 | 5 Comments

Gary Toth, Senior Director of Transportation Initiatives at PPS, discusses the Obama administration’s livability platform that is currently being miscast as exclusively favoring high-density development.

We are entering a dangerous era in the history of transportation.  Our existing infrastructure is crumbling, and the public has lost its willingness to fund transportation improvements. Investment in [...]

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Preparing fresh lobster rolls at the Brooklyn Flea

In Difficult Times, New Vendors Converge on Local Markets

By Craig Raphael on Jun 4, 2010 | Add Comment

They sell empanadas, rice balls and rhubarb pies, roof-grown produce and spicy jams.  They represent the latest trend of food entrepreneurs peddling homemade delights at local food markets, as profiled in yesterday’s New York Times article, “Their Future, Made by Hand.”

Inspired by the artisan food movement and seeking new opportunities in rough [...]

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petrosinosq

Circling the Square: A First-Hand Account of Placemaking in Action

By Craig Raphael on Jun 2, 2010 | Add Comment

PPS works with thousands of people every year to help them improve their communities, and one of our most powerful tools is the place game. A short survey used to evaluate public spaces based on four criteria–access and linkages, uses and activities, comfort and image, and sociability–the place game generates valuable insights about how to [...]

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Massimo Vignelli's classic 1972 map of the New York City subway

Furthering Long Tradition, New York Unveils New Subway Map

By Craig Raphael on May 28, 2010 | Add Comment

What’s the most viewed map in the world? It’s hard to say, but the New York City subway map must be up there! Which is why, to much fanfare this week, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority–the body that manages New York’s subway system–announced an updated version of the city’s subway map to be unveiled next month.

[...]
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Fresh produce en route to schools in the San Juan area at the Naranjito Distribution Center

Local Food Dishes Out Economic Opportunity in Puerto Rico

By Craig Raphael on May 27, 2010 | 2 Comments

Public markets have recently exploded in popularity in the United States, and their myriad benefits are increasingly well documented. South of the mainland, Puerto Rico is just beginning to develop a market system that supports local farmers, but their long-standing food distribution centers offer important lessons for the continental US, particularly with regards to school lunches–a [...]

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champselsyessfarm

Champs-Elysees Transformed Into Giant Farm

By Craig Raphael on May 24, 2010 | 7 Comments

Paris’ most famous street has become a moo-ving thoroughfare.

In a stunning transformation of public space, nearly one mile of the Champs-Elysees has been converted into a urban farm with 8,000 green plots showcasing more than 150,000 plants, flowers and even fully-grown trees from across France. Cattle, sheep, goats and even the prized Lamousin pig [...]

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Community outcomes can be achieved by reframing key transportation conventions, such as street capacity. Photo credit: Dan Burden

Transportation Investments: The Key to Creating Livable Communities

By Craig Raphael on May 21, 2010 | Add Comment

For many people, the words “transportation spending” conjure images of orange construction signs and fresh asphalt, and the platitudes of an easier commute. Transportation investments, however, can be leveraged beyond the simple task of repairing and constructing new roads: they can truly improve the quality of life by creating livable communities–in urban, suburban and rural [...]

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Phoenix, Arizona in 1885, a far cry from its present state

How Can Transportation Support Rural Livability?

By Craig Raphael on May 18, 2010 | Add Comment

One of the most critical issues facing the transportation industry is how to design and implement transportation networks in rural communities. As Gary Toth, Senior Transportation Director at PPS and Hannah Twaddell of the Renaissance Planning Group explore in a blog post for PBS’ Blueprint America series, defining rural life (as well as livability [...]

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cathedral1 Resized

Can “Hybrid” Markets Address America’s Food Access Woes?

By Craig Raphael on May 14, 2010 | 1 Comment

One of the most pressing issues facing low-income communities today is access to fresh, healthy food. In recent years, supermarkets have been touted as a “silver bullet” that offer the dual promise of jobs and healthy produce. But as Michel Nischan, director of the Wholesome Wave Foundation, points out in a [...]

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Fayetteville Street seen shortly after reopening to vehicles

City Plaza Brings New Life to Downtown Raleigh

By Craig Raphael on May 11, 2010 | 1 Comment

Raleigh, North Carolina is one of the fastest growing cities in the south, but until recently, its downtown was largely deserted after 5pm. Now, local leaders are making bold strides to bring new life to the historic city center. At the center of this effort is Fayetteville Street, the once failed pedestrian [...]

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Warren_Place_ek_Sep09 014

Alfred Tredway White: Public Housing Pioneer Who Built For Quality Public Spaces

By Craig Raphael on May 7, 2010 | Add Comment

Alfred Tredway White was arguably Brooklyn’s most significant and influential philanthropist and social reformer of the late 19thand early 20th centuries.  His lifelong work on behalf of the city’s poor population stemmed from a conviction that success, health, community, and the built environment were fundamentally interrelated, and that investing in the living conditions of the [...]

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The recent automobile crisis has led to a rush of recalls, many of which may help reshape a world previously planned to accommodate only Toyotas.

Unprecedented Series of “Recalls” Will Dramatically Change Our Communities

By Craig Raphael on May 5, 2010 | Add Comment

Malfunctioning products from manufacturers such as Toyota are not the only things being recalled these days. Many of our public places are defective, posing risks to individuals, local economies and community life in general.

Rising concern about these threats to public safety and health, ranging from dangerous streets to destructive zoning codes, has sparked new [...]

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