I’ve just started reading this memoir of the two journalists who moved their family to Celebration, FL, one of the famous “new town” settlements of the late 1990s. I’m very interested in hearing what it’s really like for people who are not architecture and planning nerds to move into a town like this, especially right when the trend began and with Disney’s stamp on the venture, which added a larger commercial element. Would this town really be Perfect Town, USA or was it just a major marketing ploy?
Many of us who are active in CNU and similar organizations know that these towns can work, but there are many issues to be ironed out, some that I know I’ll see throughout the book. Also, there’s a major elephant of diversity that already seems missing and I’m looking forward to see if they address that too. Any readers that currently live there, please feel free to share. Also, note that I’m only in the first chapter, and yes I do know about the murder that happened there in the last couple of years, but I want these folks story to stand for itself, at least for now. And with that, your news:
NC Roundup
An inside view into the strategic planning process of the Winston-Salem City Council.
The Scuppernong Books guys looked great yesterday morning on WFMY News 2, our CBS affiliate here in the Triad.
Raleigh is moving its Greyhound Station out of downtown. The hope is that the new Union Station will bring it back, but that’s 7-10 years from now.
The son of the founder of SAS is restoring historic Raleigh properties around downtown.
Raleigh and Charlotte are 16 and 17 on this list of the best cities to be an artist.
US and World Roundup
Fast Company‘s 9 inventive ideas for improving cities.
Even though there’s a new type of car and possible new service, beloved amenities are being cut on Amtrak trains.
When a black gentrifier, who’s tired of reading these kind of articles and longing for solace among his books and his writings, moves to a suburb that still has a river view and is close enough to Manhattan.
More cities need walking school buses, concerned neighbors in neighborhoods of all income levels to make sure our students get to school. More on that and the other tenets of this San Francisco project.
Man’s best friend may not be so friendly if he shows up with a police officer asking to search your car.
Could Cupertino, CA become Detroit if Apple were to ever fail?
This town’s lessons on snow plowing can teach us all how to incorporate pocket parks and curb bumpouts into areas we thought might not be able to handle them thanks to traffic demand.
It used to be transient homeless and poor people were the fear. For Evanston, IL, transient academics (read: people with or receiving advanced degrees and teaching classes) are the new blight of the neighborhood.
And finally, our place-based love story of the day: two DC residents fall in love on the X2 bus.