According to Nicolai Ouroussoff, the design for the new East River Park in NYC “represents a clear and much-needed break from the quaint Jane Jacobs-inspired vision of New York that is threatening to transform Manhattan into a theme park version of itself.” Ouroussoff praises the design for the park, which will be located partially under the FDR Drive, for celebrating the gritty underbelly of NYC, but makes no mention of how the place will function, or the uses it will provide to the community.

“The issue of free-running canines in public open spaces has become a permanent fixture in local park planning debates.

Dogs have always played a big role in city parks, but their traditional position at the end of a lead has been upended by changing mores and a rising enthusiasm among dog owners for much more active play.

There are now more than 700 dog parks in the US, ranging from substantial corners of large green spaces to small parks entirely devoted to unleashed canines - and the number is growing.”

Kathy Madden explains why some parks, main streets, and other public spaces become alive with activity and fun, while others become magnets for crime or sit empty. Here are five qualities that divide a great place from the other kind.

A gritty area under the Brooklyn Bridge has long been popular with skateboarders, and is now being made into a multi-use park. Steve Rodriguez, who has been skating in NYC since 1983, is volunteering to work with the Parks Department as a consultant to create a space that will be enjoyed by both skaters and nonskaters alike.

A team from Lindsay, CA, discuss how they will use what they learned from attending PPS’s workshops, ‘How to Turn a Place Around’ and ‘How to Create Successful Markets,’ to improve their city.

“Motorists in the Denver metro area - fed up with clogged roadways and rush-hour traffic - apparently are willing to dig deep to ease congestion and cut down commute time. FasTracks, a 12-year plan to expand bus service and add 119 miles of rail lines, has been called extraordinary not because of its scope, but because voters in a car-worshipping red state approved a $4.7 billion tax increase to pay for it.

“It’s not going to get any better as the metro area grows,” says Richard Feuerborn, who has taken a bus from the suburbs to his downtown Denver job for seven years. “We have a window of opportunity here to help.”

The proposal is already being viewed as an example of how to boost mass transit around the nation. Despite opposition from the governor, nearly 58 percent of voters in Denver and six surrounding counties last fall accepted the argument that their investment would pay off with reduced congestion.”

Fred Kent will be the key speaker at the Field Paoli 2005 Forum in San Francisco on June 30 on creating successful public spaces.

Fred will share his thoughts and challenge your ideas about the importance and success of public spaces within your community, or for your project. A panel discussion and Q&A will follow led by Field Paoli Principal, Mark Schatz, AIA. The panel will include Fred Kent; Field Paoli Principal Frank Fuller, FAIA; and firm founder John Field, FAIA.

Please RSVP, and you will receive information on the time and place of the forum.

Transportation costs could be reduced with more mass transit, and housing around transit stations, says a report co-authored by the Center for Neighborhood Technology and the Surface Transportation Policy Project. Just a generation ago, ten percent of a family’s budget went towards transportation expenses. For L.A. households, transportation costs make up 1/5 of all expenditures.

Community members rallied early on in the planning process to ensure that the new library in San Mateo will be an energy efficient building with plenty of natural sunlight and fresh air. The new library in San Mateo will be the largest green library in Northern California when it opens in 2006. Even though the new building will be two and a half times larger than the old library, because of its energy-saving design, it will cost the city less to operate.

A farmers market has opened in Somerville’s Union Square for the first time in 10 years. Many of the area’s residents are eager to become more involved with a sustainable lifestyle, and feel that shopping at farmers’ markets is a part of that.