This Just In from CNU20: World Not Yet Saved

The Congress for the New Urbanism’s annual convergence of giganto ideas and fine-grained pragmatism wrapped Saturday night with a party in a bar. The four days in West Palm Beach, Florida, marked the 20th anniversary of such gatherings, most of which also involved spill-over debates in venues with liquor licenses.

As usual, the CNU20 agenda was packed with passion and ambition, with a smidgeon of apocalyptic visioning to dampen out-of-control hopefulness. So what’s on the minds of the NU designers, planners and fellow travelers these days?

Hey, where’s the freshness?

Hi, there. Thanks for dropping by. If you’re here seeking your weekly dose of community perspective, we’ve got some news for you.

It’s become increasingly apparent to us here at PlaceShakers that our Friday publishing schedule is a bit counter-intuitive. After all, here we are at the end of the week, trying to gear up discussion while everyone else is winding down.

Perhaps it originated with subconscious impulses to simply counter whatever the mainstream tends to do. Or maybe Friday just turned out to be the day when we had the most bandwidth to write. Whatever is was, it’s not ideal. It’s become the week’s dessert. A little treat at the end, when the heavy lifting is done.

We’re really looking to be more of an aperitif.

So, beginning Monday, we’re switching to a Fresh Every Monday promise instead. We’ll start the week with you and together we can consider the challenges ahead at the same pace.

See you then.