Ben Brown
Lessons from the Pandemic: Housing, Retail, Broadband
Second in a series of conversations about what comes next in local government policies and processes, this time between Geoff Koski and Ben Brown on housing, retail, and broadband
After the Plague: Go Big or Go Backwards?
Among unwelcome lessons of COVID-19 is growing evidence of what was already broken in politics and business. Ben Brown looks at making bold changes in order to improve the lives of the left out and left behind.
Plotting a Persuasive Story? Better Have a Happily Ever After
All stories are purposeful. They’re meant to entertain or inform or inspire to action. If you're a storyteller for a placemaking initiative, Ben Brown says you'd better have a happily ever after.
A Hurricane Response Lesson: Disrupt the Cycle of Futility
How do we disrupt the cycle of rebuilding things exactly as they were before—if slightly hardened—after increasingly powerful weather events?
Good Side of the Downside: The End Is (Only) Near
Depressed by city planning in your neck of the woods? Ben Brown says to lower your expectations.
A Comprehensive Plan for Westeros? Same Issues, More Swordplay
Game of Thrones provides way more sex, blood, and dragons than your typical comprehensive planning project, but the dynamics can be instructive, particularly in places where demand for the high-quality amenities of urbanism out-paces the supply.
The Other Side of Anxiety? Realism. And Maybe Hope.
Ben Brown tells us to stop narrowly defining problems.
All We Need to Do: Call BS
Ben Brown calls BS on a number of city planning and gentrification points.
Florida Man Fails to Fix Everything, Reconsiders Position
Richard Florida was right about everything, except when he wasn't. Ben Brown brings us up to speed on the Creative Class.
Feared Dead, Math’s Back: Planning Nerds Vindicated
Deciding how to grow at the local level's not a red thing or a blue thing. It's a math thing. Ben Brown's got the lowdown.
Where Thinking About the End is a Good Place to Begin
Facing scary stuff that's also inevitable tends to clarify the landscape for decision-making.
Bubble Burst Strategy No. 1: Do Something. Now.
Ben Brown on placemaking implications of today's politics
Step Away from the Vehicle (And Take Back the Journey)
Walkability’s greatest gifts to health are most accessible when we encounter one another in the flesh. In pedestrian-friendly environments, others amenitize space. On the highway, they encumber it.
The City as 'Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities': It’s the People Thing
If even a sliver of a 78-million-strong set of consumers seems willing to hand over cash for something, businesses organize themselves to deliver, whether we’re talking hula hoops or downtown apartments.
There Goes the Neighborhood: Oh No, Not Burning Man!
Ben Brown unpacks the components of polarization. Recognizing some people are really pissed off for some really good reasons doesn’t seem to help us make better decisions, whether we’re talking about electing a president or planning a park.
Unpredictable, High Risk, High Cost: Planning for the Worst Is the Worst
Ben Brown takes a hard look at our capacities and limitations in a world more complex than we’d prefer.
Equity, Engagement, Community: Empathy Ain't Enough
if a community planning effort is to be judged by the degree to which all voices are heard, then anything short of a big turnout is going to feel like failure. Ben Brown talks equitable engagement, and aligning promises with implementation.
From Ideas to Action: Cheaply, Quickly, Fairly
Applying ideas of Lean Urbanism to the charrette process can establish an agreement about values and rules for planning in ways that make it renewable.
It's the Complexity, Stupid! (Try 'Splainin' that in an Elevator)
The dangerous absurdity of building a national—or a community—to-do list around fear, resentment, and wishful thinking
The Next Frontier for Compact Walkability? It's Gotta Be the Burbs
Suburban retrofit: what's next in issues, approaches, strategies, and tools.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
