CNU August 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. CNU XV Reincarnated as Online Multimedia Archive

It's sad when the final day of the Congress comes to an end, so CNU is finding new ways for the Congress to live on long after everyone has gone home. The CNU XV Multimedia Archive is filled with PDFs, visuals, and audio from the presentations. It's a valuable resource for those who couldn't attend or who wish to revisit one of the sessions. Also included are recaps of each day and an archive of live coverage from our team of member bloggers.

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2. New Urbanists Respond to Emergency Responders

Moving ahead on one of the priorities in our new strategic plan, CNU has been invited by the U.S. EPA to propose new strategies for overcoming resistance among emergency responders to urbanist-designed networks of narrow streets. A working group including CNU members and emergency responder representatives will define best practices and create an urbanism-based code that can serve as an approved alternative to anti-urban emergency codes. New urbanist developers, architects, and builders have long seen efforts to develop fine-grained neighborhoods with narrow streets frustrated by vetoes from fire officials. CNU will announce more details on this new initiative in coming months.

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3. Call for New Urbanist Academic Papers

CNU is accepting academic paper submissions for presentation at CNU XVI in
Austin, Texas, to be held April 3-6, 2008. Accepted papers and abstracts will also be published on the CNU website and in a special issue of the Journal of Urbanism. Submissions are welcome on a range of issues and disciplines related to New Urbanism. Selection will be based on the paper’s contribution to critical discussion and practice of New Urbanism and for synergies within sessions. All papers should be submitted by Friday, November 30, 2007. Visit http://cnu.org/node/130 for complete submission details.

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4. Final Push for Member-Provided New Urbanist In-City Projects

This summer, CNU asked members to help identify and describe significant in-city new urbanist projects so that we can create detailed listings and online project profiles that make new urbanist involvement in existing cities more visible. "The response has been very strong," CNU President John Norquist reports. "We’ve had members submit detailed reports on about 200 projects and forward images of 60 of those projects. I congratulate members for getting involved -- your responses will help update perceptions and show that New Urbanism is making a difference all along the Transect."

But the list is not yet complete. Information on significant new urbanist projects in downtowns and other city neighborhoods has not been provided, meaning it will be hard to include prominent projects -- such as Glenwood Park and Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Stapleton in Denver, the Del Mar and Mission Meridian transit-oriented developments in Pasadena, and planning projects such as the Plan of Nashville, to name just a few. To help make our infill listings as complete as possible, we're extending the submission deadline to Thursday, August 30. Go online to see a list of both submitted projects and some prominent projects that have not yet been submitted. Project participants and others with detailed knowledge of these and other worthwhile projects are urged to use CNU's easy web form to provide information about these projects by 8-30-07.

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5. CNU Seeks Best Practice Examples of Transportation Networks

To prepare for the 2008 Charlotte Transportation Summit, CNU is seeking best
practice examples of transportation networks. We are looking for policies that support the network and the best examples of planned approaches or built projects that reflect a sophisticated understanding of how multi-modal networks function. We are also looking for examples of how to document the performance of these networks. Some of these ideas will be presented at CNU XVI in Austin and will guide our work in preparation for the November 2008 summit in Charlotte. Submit an initial 200-word description and any photos or examples electronically to Heather Smith by November 16, 2007.

For more on the 2008 Transportation Summit and the upcoming 2007 Summit in
London, please visit http://cnu.org/transportationsummits.

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6. 238 New Developments from U.S. and Abroad Join Pioneering LEED for Neighborhood Development Pilot

Green Building Rating System Expands to Community Scale, Integrating Smart Growth, New Urbanism and Eco-Efficient Building Design

(Washington, DC) — LEED for Neighborhood Development – the pilot rating system launched jointly by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) is off to a promising start. A total of 238 developments have signed up to participate in the pilot program, which will be the first national certification system for sustainable neighborhood design and development. LEED for Neighborhood Development will integrate the principles of smart growth, new urbanism, and green building into the design and development of communities, moving beyond the single green building approach. The LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot is on track to be one of the largest launches yet for a new LEED program.

Read more...

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7. Invitation for CNU Board Nominations

The CNU Board's nomination committee seeks your nominees as they look to fill several board member vacancies in the upcoming year. Please consider where you would like to see CNU go in the future and suggest leaders in those fields. The committee also asks that you consider the gender, racial, and ethnic balance on the board in addition to field of expertise and experience level. The current list of board members can be found at http://cnu.org/board.

The nomination committee is hoping to hear from you by Labor Day, Sept. 3, 2007. Please send your recommendations to Nora Beck. The committee will review all nominations as they compile a potential slate for the full board to confirm in early 2008.

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8. What's New @ CNU.org

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

Easier to Find Your Local Chapter @ http://cnu.org/chapters
CNU has created a new map of regional chapter groups to help web visitors find their local chapter and learn what's happening locally. If you haven't connected with your local chapter, check out the map to see if there's a group near you and send an email to your local organizer.

CNU XVI Website Now Live @ http://cnuxvi.org
CNUXVI.org is now live -- visit this site for the latest information about the upcoming Congress in Austin, or subscribe to the CNU XVI News Feed. Check out the About Austin page to learn about our host city and watch a welcome video from Mayor Wynn.

In the News: A "Radical" Idea Whose Time Has Come: Lehrer News Hour Explores Bringing Down Seattle's Alaskan Way Freeway @ http://cnu.org/node/1389

More and more Seattle residents are showing they are fed up with the domination of their potentially beautiful waterfront by a truck route. They're calling for infrastructure that makes their city more livable. And PBS' Lehrer News Hour is taking note, not only of the call for better alternatives in Seattle but the trend visible in a number of cities to replace elevated freeways with boulevards that support high-value city fabric and strong pedestrian connections to waterfronts and other civic assets.

In the News: Southern California Missing the Point on Global Warming @ http://cnu.org/node/1353
Rick Cole, 2007 Charter Award juror and city manager of Ventura, CA, writes a poignant criticism in the Los Angeles Times.

CNU Salons: Why a new urbanist charrette is what TOD-fueled Evanston needs right now @ http://cnu.org/node/1355

CNU member Kevin Klinkenberg and his team from 180 Degree Design Studio lead a Charrette in a Chicago transit suburb.

If you haven't experienced the new CNU.org yet, it's time for you to see what you're missing. We've rebuilt 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 website.

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9. Students for New Urbanism Congress I: October 5 - 7 @ University of Notre Dame

The Students for New Urbanism-Notre Dame (SNU-ND) are organizing the first international SNU Congress, October 5 - 7 at the University of Notre Dame. SNU-ND's mission is to discuss development practices and public policies, learn from recent innovative work and explore initiatives that have the power to transform communities.

SNU I will allow students and young practitioners to connect and collaborate with other young people interested in the practice of New Urbanism, to learn the latest new urbanist trends and to contribute ideas and experiences that will help everyone to take New Urbanism to the next level. Students and young professionals from all disciplines are encouraged to attend.

For more information and to register, visit http://architecture.nd.edu/news_and_events/snu_congress.shtml.

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10. Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference

On September 24 & 25 in Pittsburgh, join the National Vacant Properties Campaign and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland at Reclaiming Vacant Properties:
Strategies for Rebuilding America’s Neighborhoods. Today, a growing number
of communities see vacant properties not simply as sources of anxiety, but
as opportunities to build strong and healthy neighborhoods. Community
members and practitioners know it's not a simple task, but there are
lessons and strategies from around the country we can all learn from.

This two-day conference will bring together practitioners, policymakers, and concerned citizens from throughout the country to share model practices and problem solve. Take advantage of this opportunity to design new strategies to prevent and revitalize vacant properties, which will consequently improve public safety and health, and spur economic growth.

For more information and to register, visit http://www.vacantproperties.org/reclaimingconference.html.

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11. 2008 Palladio Awards Call for Submissions

Deadline: November 15, 2007

Submissions are now being accepted for the 2008 Palladio Awards. The seventh-annual competition will recognize outstanding work in traditional design for commercial, institutional, public and residential projects.

The Palladio Awards program is co-produced by Traditional Building and Period Homes magazines and is named in honor of Andrea Palladio, the Renaissance architect who created modern architecture for his time while drawing on past models for inspiration.

For more information, go to www.palladioawards.com.

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12. Upcoming Seminars and Workshops from the Seaside Institute

Visit the Seaside Institute website for more information and a full list of events. Current CNU members receive a 10% discount on workshop registrations with their membership card.

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

September 27, 2007
Denver, CO

October 11, 2007
Charlotte, NC

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.

Other Upcoming Events:

Creating Unique Places and Enduring Legacies
October 18 – 20, 2007
Carmel, California

Atlanta on the Cutting Edge: Models for Growth and Renewal
Atlanta, GA
November 7-10, 2007

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13. Upcoming Training Opportunities from the National Charrette Institute

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

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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Congress for the New Urbanism
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