Busy week

We've been busy with events this past week, so I have had no time to post at all. In fact, the participants were telling me about news in New York...and that's how I found out about Trump and the WTC, sad to say. (I did manage to get Jane Jacobs' letter up, below.)

People from all over the United States and Canada, with a few people from other countries (Denmark, the Netherlands, and South Africa) came out to New York the past couple of days. This is my fourth time doing the workshop, and this is the first time that I felt that the notion of "placemaking" is mainstream, or at least, it's no longer a lone "voice in the wilderness" as someone else put it.

Yeah, yeah, transportation people are into it (if by words only), as well as the predictable developers and architects who are after resorts and lifestyle centers.

But the idea is fully resonating with people less obvious - those working in affordable housing, the people looking out for seniors, designers hoping to move away from graphic and product design for corporations and get more involved with helping communities through design, and librarians. The ideas are acceptable, not "hippy," and these are the people who are active users and shapers in their communities, not just builders of the physical environment. These people are wondering how to work with their government and with the professionals.

What does this mean for my microscopic world? I want to get us on Oprah!