CNU June/July e-Update

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If you have an item for a future e-Update, please email Lee Crandell. If you have further questions about CNU activities, please contact our office at cnuinfo@cnu.org or 312-551-7300.

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1. Looking Toward Austin: CNU Seeks Ideas for CNU XVI

Submit Your Ideas by August 1, 2007

CNU is looking for your big ideas for CNU XVI, which will take place April 3-6, 2008, in Austin, Texas. The program will emphasize the theme "New Urbanism and the Booming Metropolis." Our members are an integral part of the program planning -- we are looking for your thoughts and ideas on topics relevant to your day-to-day work. 

Is there something you're dying to learn about at CNU XVI? Hoping to hear from experts on specific new urbanist topics? Now is the time to submit specific speakers, session ideas, or topics you'd like to see at the upcoming Congress in April. We are looking for ideas in the following areas: transportation, sustainability, community, codes, financing, design and architecture, and challenges facing New Urbanism.

Program planning is starting now, so don’t miss out! Too often we have to turn away ideas that have been submitted after the program is already completed. Suggest your Session Idea for CNU XVI by August 1 to ensure it is considered for the program.

We are looking forward to reading your ideas, and we’ll see you in Texas next April!

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2. Save the Date for the Transportation Summit!

Save the Date for CNU's Transportation Summit in London, November 12-14, 2007, hosted by the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment.  Visit http://cnu.org/transportation2007 for more details about the agenda and hotel information. Bookmark this page and check back often. Registration information will be available later in the summer. The program will offer an opportunity for cross-fertilization of the best innovations in transportation reform from the U.S. and U.K. We will also look at critical questions such as why some of the richest countries in the world aren't spending their transportation funding wisely. For more information email hsmith@cnu.org.

We've also already started planning for next year's Transportation Summit in Charlotte, N.C., November 6-8, 2008, hosted by Danny Pleasant of the Charlotte Department of Transportation. This summit will continue the work from Boulder on network and connectivity issues (click for notes). If this is an issue in your practice, CNU wants your thoughts and ideas between now and 2008. This summit aims to define the "Network," and identify and more thoroughly define the barriers to network planning. This summit will lead to a best practices guide and future publication.  Visit http://cnu.org/transportation2008 for more information.  

For more information about past Summits, visit http://cnu.org/transportationsummits.

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3. Buffalo Council Members Tour Milwaukee's Riverfront Redevelopment

Lessons for Buffalo's Lakeshore Found in Milwaukee's Park East Neighborhood

It's one thing to read about a place, but there's no substitute for visiting and experiencing it for yourself. Confronted with questions about the removal of an elevated highway in their city, Buffalo Common Councilmembers Michael Kearns, David Franczyk, and Richard Fontana decided to get out in the field and learn from another city. Having heard about the extensive redevelopment efforts along the former Park East freeway corridor in Milwaukee, they were curious if there were any lessons that would be applicable along Buffalo's waterfront. Their trip couldn't have come at a better time given recent proposals from the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) calling for infrastructure changes that would perpetuate the anti-urban nature of the waterfront.

Read full article...

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4. What's New @ CNU.org

Here's a sample of what's new at CNU.org:

Congestion Charge for Downtown Chicago? @ http://cnu.org/node/1240
A congestion charge proposal sparks debate in Chicago.

Going green? Debate shifting from what you drive to how much @ http://cnu.org/node/1296
The connections between transportation, energy, global warming, and neighborhoods continue to make inroads into national political discourse...

Jobs and RFPs @ http://cnu.org/search/jobsrfp
Find work and post your own jobs and RFPs.

If you haven't experienced the new CNU.org yet, it's time for you to see what you're missing. We've built an all-new CNU.org to create a more enriching experience for CNU members. Please take a moment to log into the new site and learn about the new features it has to offer. All usernames have been reset with the launch of the new site, so please read our Login Instructions to get started.

Visit http://cnu.org/features to learn more about the site.

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5. New Journal of Urbanism Call for Papers

Congratulations to CNU members Emily Talen and Chuck Bohl for establishing the Journal of Urbanism. Establishing a peer-reviewed journal on the topics relevant to urbanists has been targeted as a key way to break down the resistance to New Urbanism in academia -- and now that journal exists thanks to the initiative of these members along with their partner Mathew Hardy of the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism (INTBAU). The Journal will be published quarterly beginning in April 2008 by the British publisher Routledge and is seeking submissions now. See the Call for Papers (PDF) for more details.

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6. Four Award-Winning Form-Based Codes Available Online

The opening plenary session of CNU XV included a presentation of the Driehaus Form-Based Codes Awards, given by the Form-Based Codes Institute. All of the winning codes are now available for download online at http://www.formbasedcodes.org/awards_2007.html.

Why are these codes important? A vision containing the principles of the CNU Charter may remain just a vision without proper regulation requiring its implementation. Thus, well-written Form-Based Codes are essential. The awards jury, comprised of Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk as chair plus Paul Crawford and Rick Bernhardt, selected codes adopted by Gulfport, Miss., Farmers Branch, Texas, St. Lucie County, Fla., and Leander, Texas, for these inaugural awards.

Visit http://cnu.org/node/1191 for a copy of the PowerPoint presentation given during the plenary session that includes selected images from each code and the community that adopted it.

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7. 7th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference Call for Program Ideas

The official Call for Program Ideas (CFPI) process for the 7th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference is underway. The conference will be held February 7-9, 2008 in Washington, D.C. The deadline for submitting session proposals is July 11.

If you are interested in submitting a session idea for the program, please visit the conference website at http://www.newpartners.org/call_for_program_ideas.html for detailed instructions and the official submittal form.

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8. Street Smart: Streetcars and Cities in the 21st Century Workshop Series

July 27, 2007
Portland, Ore.

Streetcars were ubiquitous in the early 1900s and are uniquely suited now to serve the higher-density development underway in downtowns across the U.S. They are cheaper than light rail, promote development and street life, and fit easily into built environments.

Join Reconnecting America, APTA, the Community Streetcar Coalition, and The Seaside Institute to hear practitioners and public officials from around the U.S. explain funding and political strategies that get robust streetcar systems built.

Workshops in Portland, Denver, Charlotte and Madison.

First workshop in Portland, July 27.

Visit www.theseasideinstitute.org for more information about this and other events.

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9. Upcoming Training Opportunities from the National Charrette Institute

Visit the National Charrette Institute (NCI) website for details on the following trainings. Current CNU members receive a 10% discount on NCI registration fees for public trainings held in Portland.

Cambridge, MA at Harvard University • July 30-August 1
NCI Charrette Planner® certificate trainings
At the Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education Program.
For more information, please see Harvard's website at:
http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/exec_ed/details.cgi?offering_id=101160.

Portland, OR • October 8-12
NCI Charrette Planner® certificate trainings
NCI Complete Charrette Manager™ certificate trainings
For more information and to register, please see NCI's website at:
http://charretteinstitute.org/programs/reg_current/pdx_reg.html.

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