What is it about the built environment of a historic downtown that makes it a good home for the small independent business but not as appealing to the national retailers?

Jane Jacobs, Member Post, Top Story, Walkability, Big Box StoresJustin GolbabaiMay 5, 2016big box stores, Traditional Main Street, local business, historic preservation

At the Intersection of Fiscal and Physical Health

Why old ways of building are good for both the body and the bottom line.

Walkability, KobosSarah KobosJanuary 13, 2016Public Health, shopping malls, Traditional Main Street, suburban experiment

Built-In Advantages

Scranton, Pennsylvania is not a wealthy place, but it is a place with underappreciated intrinsic wealth. Bet on older mid-size cities like Scranton, whose built-in advantages leave them well-positioned to weather future economic disruption.

Herriges, Rational Responses, Urban Design, Top Story, #ChaoticButSmartDaniel HerrigesJanuary 11, 2016Traditional Main Street, small business, Pennsylvania, urbanism, resilient, productive place, walkability, neighborhood, mixed use

"Tradition is to the community what memory is to the individual"

Tradition can help make strong citizenship habitual, but first we need to come to terms with how we got here, who we want to be, and what traditions support the society we want.

Field Notes, Top StoryGracen JohnsonDecember 2, 2015Traditional Main Street, Social Isolation, social capital

Collingswood: The Main Street Model

There’s a weird war raging these days between people who advocate high rise living in the urban core and folks who can’t stand to live in anything but a fully detached home on a quarter acre lot. I always choose the thing in the middle. I’m a Main Street kind of guy.

Top Story, Sanphillippo, Neighborhood DesignJohnny SanphillippoNovember 6, 2015Traditional Main Street, New Jersey, affordable housing, schools, Parks

The shopping mall death spiral

Cities that tethered their future to this experiment are going to struggle while those that still have a pulse in their core neighborhoods will have a chance at renewed prosperity.