CT Governor Jodi Rell issued an executive order creating a state office to control sprawl and promote more sensible and sustainable growth.

The Hartford Courant cheered the move, with some caveats, in this editorial.

PPS Senior Associate Toni Gold also asks whether the move is a meaningful one in her commentary, “Smart Growth or a Fig Leaf?”

Attentive management — not major redesign — is what’s needed to help Downtown’s beleaguered Market Square develop into a place where people want to spend time.

That was the consensus that the Project for Public Spaces presented at the Harris Theater on Tuesday, after six weeks of soliciting input from Pittsburghers and studying the historic, single-acre site sandwiched between PPG Place and the west end of Forbes Avenue.

“Ninety percent of success in public spaces is about management,” said Fred Kent, President of the New York-based group. “Lots of cities create spaces but don’t manage them.”

Photo (c) Jasmine Gehris/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Cynthia Nikitin, Vice President of Project for Public Spaces and Director of the Civic Centers Program, discusses the importance of involving the community in revitalizing cities and neighborhoods, on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Cynthia Nikitin, Vice President of Project for Public Spaces and Director of the Civic Centers Program, discusses the importance of involving the community in revitalizing cities and neighborhoods, on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The Houston Downtown Park Conservancy held a Groundbreaking Ceremony and name announcement for Houston’s new Downtown Park on October 17, 2006. The project will transform an area that is currently underused green space and parking lots into an oasis for Downtown Houston.  PPS worked with the Conservancy and the community in 2005 to develop a program of uses for the new park, to ensure that it will become a major attraction for Downtown Houston, and the region. The Conservancy held a contest to name the new park, and “Discovery Green” was chosen from over 6,000 entries.

Hargreaves Associates led the design effort - the final design is pictured above.

For more on PPS’ work with the new Downtown Park, visit our project experience page.

“One of the lures of the outer suburbs is more house — maybe even one with a big yard — for less money. But a new study shows that the savings are illusory: The costs of longer commutes are so high that they can outweigh the cheaper mortgage payments.

A study of Washington and 27 other metropolitan areas by the Center for Housing Policy found that the costs of one-way commutes of as little as 12 to 15 miles — roughly the distance between Gaithersburg and Bethesda — cancel any savings on lower-priced outer-suburban homes.”

“Where schools are built can have a major impact on the character and growth of a community. With a push from state education officials, communities are consolidating small schools and building new ones near town centers. This is a welcome change.”

Toni Gold, a Senior Associate of Project for Public Spaces, applauds CT Governor Rell’s establishment of an Office of Responsible Growth, and also asks if the move is a sufficient step towards meaningful smart growth policies.

The Indianapolis Cultural Trail, a pedestrian-and-bike path linking Downtown cultural districts, will take a big leap forward today with the announcement of a $15 million donation allowing construction to begin next year.

PPS looked at cities and trails around the world and helped the project team work through design, engineering and programmatic issues, encouraging the city to build an on-street bicycle network to compliment the trail, and think of the entire street as a public space. Andy Wiley-Schwartz, Vice President of PPS, said of the trail, “There’s nothing really exactly like it.” The closest thing in the United States is in Boulder, Colo., where a bike-and-walk trail system was developed in the downtown area, he said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that while Fashion Week events have outgrown Bryant Park, more time is needed to find another home. The Mayor stepped in and reserved the Park for Fashion Week in February, 2007, rather than allowing a public ice skating rink to remain open throughout the winter months.