Placemaking MML

August 2, 2013

The Human Scale: Building Cities for People Instead of Cars

This week my colleague Colleen Layton and I visited the 2013 Traverse City Film Festival to get a firsthand look at how the event is adding to the city's blossoming identity as a cultural hotspot for national and even international…

July 1, 2013

PALM XXXII: End of the Ride

During the week of June 21-28, 2013, the PALM XXXII bike tour gave me the opportunity to experience bikeability issues in Michigan literally from the ground up. Now that the ride is over, I'd like to talk about how PALM…

June 30, 2013

PALM Day Five: Road Funding and Complete Streets in Michigan

Great road surfaces heading out of Grandville! Author's note: Due to technical difficulties, this blog post for Thursday, June 27, 2013 was delayed in posting online. Every day during the ride this week, I've tried to focus on road and…

June 25, 2013

PALM Day Four: Protect Vulnerable Users Legislation

The thunderstorms opened up over lake Odessa just before dawn. Most of us had barely gotten started in getting our gear packed and with all the lightning there was nothing to do but eat a slow breakfast and wait for…

June 24, 2013

PALM Day Three: Safe Passing Distance Legislation

Today we rode from Grandville to Lake Odessa along miles of busy highway, often without a bike lane or paved shoulder. Bike wheels dance in cadence along the white line behind me and in front--an endless disconnected parade of riders…

June 23, 2013

PALM Day Two: Civic Engagement

Today we rode about 50 miles from Norton Shores to Grandville. The route planners did an amazing job: we rode past acres and acres of blueberry bushes and asparagus fields, farmhouses and cottages overlooking wetlands and lakes, rolling farm fields…

June 22, 2013

PALM Day One: Biking for Beginners

It's Day One of the 2013 PALM and we're camped out on the grounds of a local middle school in Norton Shores on the west side of the state. One semi broke down so some people are still waiting for…

June 20, 2013

Sonic Lunch Brings Beautiful Music to Pop-Up Placemaking in Ann Arbor

Pop-up placemaking is all about light, quick, cheap and often temporary ways to energize and activate a public space. It can take many forms, and a coworker and I saw a perfect example today in Ann Arbor: the Sonic Lunch.…

June 18, 2013

PALM XXXII: Pedal Across Lower Michigan Highlights Bike-ability in Michigan

Did you know that Michigan has more than 2,000 miles of bike trail corridors? That's more trailway miles than almost any other state in the U.S. So why do less than one percent of Michiganders commute by bicycle? One big…

June 18, 2013

CNU21- A Few Reflections

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Congress for the New Urbanism Conference (CNU21) in Salt Lake City (SLC). I was sure that I would be let down following my barely contained anticipation of the…