Filmanowicz's blog

This video isn't your daddy's view of New Urbanism. But amid the quick cuts and other cool effects, it does a nice job of introducing viewers to New Urbanism. Just now breaking ground (and already so pre-sold that it's generating a long waiting list) Oshara appears to be an emerging exemplar of green urbanism -- a traditional neighborhood of connected streets and blocks, onsite stormwater retention and other examples of smart infrastructure and green buildings to boot. The developers back up their vision with research showing that residents will generate energy-use and pollution reductions of nearly 50% through reduced use of automobiles and more efficient heating and cooling of buildings. (Interesting political footnote: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson suported granting an easement over a freeway to better connect the project to Santa Fe's existing street grid.)

Martha Stewart and KB Homes are making a big PR push in which they're branding their new Avellino Development as New Urbanism. And the fruits of this push are showing up all over the media (such as here and here).

With its editorials and ongoing coverage, the Sun Herald of South Mississippi proves again and again that the Pulitzer committee made a wise decision in awarding the paper the top prize in journalism. With a compelling and carefully detailed December column, Sun Herald publisher Ricky Mathews astutely analyzes post-Katrina rebuilding in Biloxi, the Mississippi Gulf Coast's most closely watched city, and calls for exceptional leadership from city leaders to overcome the epic damage caused by Katrina.

Governing Magazine's Chris Swope spent a week or so on the MIssissippi Coast and did some admirable reporting. Swope casts a wider-than-normal net, moving beyond Biloxi and encountering forward-thinking elected officials such as Mayor Connie Moran of Ocean Springs and Mayor Brent Warr of Gulfport (the largest city on the Mississippi coast) who are seeking to capitalize on the New Urbanist visions and resources that have been in ample supply in the state since the huge CNU charrette last October. Long Beach emerges as a typical coastal town -- not a casino mecca like Biloxi nor an artist haven like Bay St. Louis or Ocean Springs -- that is wrestling with questions of whether to accept conventional development or to strive to build a more livable, connected, and enduring community.