Tag: Urban Planning


Upcoming Event: PARK(ing) Day at a Meter Near You

When you’ve successfully searched through your car, purse, and pockets for all remaining change to feed a parking meter, that small plot of land is officially yours for the time you have paid for. On PARK(ing) Day, Friday, September 20, you are encouraged to think outside the parking spot and not just use it for…

Cultivating Resilient Spaces in the City: A Q&A with Dr. Erika Svendsen

Open Voices is taking the opportunity to get to know some of the different team members from our National Awards grantee projects. You can find previous interviews with other team members here. When one thinks of the U.S. Forest Service, you wouldn’t necessarily think of New York City. That is not the case for Dr. Erika…

Resilient Design: An Interview with Nancy Chikaraishi and Traci Sooter

Open Voices is taking the opportunity to get to know some of the different team members from our National Awards grantee projects. You can find previous interviews with other team members here. Neither Nancy Chikaraishi, AIA, or Traci Sooter, AIA , LEED AP,  are strangers to applying their skills as architects to help their local community….

Open Voices News Roundup: August 19

Every week, we bring you the latest news in placemaking, landscape architecture, the nature-mental health link, and much more. Check back each week for new roundups and items. Connect Children to Nature “Making mud pies, watching an anthill or skipping rocks on the water: many adults remember enjoying such outdoor activities as children. However, research…

Learning a Love of Nature in the City: A Q&A with Sara Hobel

Open Voices is taking the opportunity to get to know some of the different team members from our National Awards grantee projects. You can find previous interviews with other team members here. Building on her previous experiences as an advocate for the benefits of nature, such as leading up the Urban Park Rangers in New…

Trees in Cities: A Breath of Fresh Air

It’s a fact: living in a city or other urban environment means dealing with pollution. But while it may seem unavoidable, there are untapped ways to improve the air quality of our cities. New research from a team including David Nowak and Robert Hoehn from the USDA Forest Service and Satoshi Hirabayashi and Allison Bodine…

Open Voices News Roundup: August 12

Every week, we bring you the latest news in placemaking, landscape architecture, the nature-mental health link, and much more. Check back each week for new roundups and items. Drs. Oz and Roizen: “Green prescriptions” for Busy People “Getting up close and personal with Mother Nature yields big mind-body benefits. A walk in the park is…

Recommended Reading: Mounds of Trash into Treasured Landscape

The large Freshkills landfill used to be one of the less flattering, yet defining features of Staten Island. But that is all going to change in the next few years, and we can already begin to see the improvements, as the expansive 2,200 acres transitions into a park with the help of James Corner Field…

Designing the Naval Cemetery Landscape: An Interview with the Landscape Architects of Nelson Byrd Woltz

The landscape architecture firm Nelson Byrd Woltz is dedicated to the integration of respect for nature and design. They will be partnering with the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, one of our National Award winners, on the Naval Cemetery Landscape project to develop a peaceful natural space for commuters along the greenway. We had a chance to…

Recommended Reading: Promoting the Benefits of Planting Trees in Cities

When you think of trees, you might picture vast wooded forests in more rural settings. But many don’t realize how important trees are to urban communities and ecosystems as well. That’s why David Nowak, a researcher for the Forest Service, has teamed up with private industry and non-governmental organizations to create an innovative tool called…

"Today I became someone different. I made something very special come alive. A place where we could sit, think, get outside and get our minds together."

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