Like streets, doors and windows, shutters stand at the intersection of public and private domains. A venerable urban feature with Greco-Roman origins, the shutter historically provided security, privacy, shading, and ornamental interface. Today, shutters provide one of many ongoing opportunities to recreate a sense of place and vibrantly define the look and feel of city spaces.
The evidence is before our eyes around the world.
Seattle’s backyard cottage ordinance has gone national, thanks to a USA Today article highlighted by NRDC’s Kaid Benfield, both in his blog and the Huffington Post. Benfield’s Post piece is embedded below, which includes a link to our August 28, 2009 article in Crosscut:
The Puget Sound Regional Council has republished The Quality Growth Alliance’s report entitled “From Barriers to Solutions and Best Practices: Urban Centers and TOD in Washington”, which focuses on how to enhance our region’s ability to assure homes close to work and amenities, without exclusive reliance on automobiles.
The republished report is embedded below.
The March 14, 2010 piece, “Practicing Cautionary Placemaking: Urbanism and the Venetian Ghetto”, was featured in Planetizen on March 15, and has been viewed by thousands worldwide. The May 18, 2010 Real Estate Law & Industry Report (a Bureau of National Affairs publication) will include a reformatted version, which is embedded below:
Baseball, borne of street ancestry, has always been the sport of cities. Through perspective, and the lens of new urbanism, today’s modern ballparks display the oft-stated quest for a compact and community-oriented world on foot. We need not seek the validity of urban return through articles and studies. Confirmation is as simple as immersion in the crowd.
