CNU 17: Retool for Recovery — and Save Now

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Retool for the urban recovery

Listen to doug Farr in this cnu video: CNU 17 is the place to gear up for a changed planning and development Landscape — And now is the time to lock in early registration savings!

If you haven't seen the video below — the first in a series of text and video interviews with CNU 17 participants — you'll want to watch it to hear the reasons a top new urbanist agenda-setter gives for not missing CNU 17. "As hard as they are economically, these are the times of the most hopefulness I've seen in years." says Farr, author of Sustainable Urbanism (currently ranked 10th in Amazon's sales ranking for urban and land-use planning books). "I've always been interested in the same two things -- cities and sustainability. Finally those issues are coming into the mainstream. I'm seeing that in RFPs that we're getting from developers and from cities."

Taking place June 10-14 in Denver, Colorado, the 17th Congress for the New Urbanism is built to help you benefit from the new urbanist advantages Farr identifies —learn how to make communities more walkable, more energy efficient, more enduring, and more livable just as demographic and cultural changes swing demand in our direction.

Compared to other conferences, the Congress is about the "bigger, more strategic thinking, says Farr who says he got "about half the material" for his book just hanging around Congresses. "It's focused on the end of sustainability that is also about quality of life and is the kind of attractor that Americans insist on. Americans don't like denial. They don't like discomfort. Urbanism is convenient. It offers choices. So we have the facts on our side." Watch later this week for another video featuring Carol Coletta, the dynamic president of CEOS for Cities and a CNU 17 plenary speaker.

AND Save NOW with early-registration rates

Registration for CNU 17 will never be lower than it is between now and May 8th, when the early registration period ends. If you're an individual professional member, registering now will save you $80. For the full package (including party and three ticketed events including 202s, tours, and Experiences), your amount saved is $120. Elected officials, non-profit employees, international attendees, and students save considerably too.

When CNU participants register early, CNU can plan more efficiently for the amount of space, breakfast food, coffee and other resources needed. So do yourself and CNU a favor, register now, or at least by the May 8th deadline.

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STAY THROUGH SATURDAY AT THE DENVER SHERATON AND THE BALL GAME IS ON US

Stay at the heart of the Congress action and unwind with CNU on Sunday at Coors Field... Act fast

After a productive Congress — and a Saturday night party with salons on wonderful Larimer Street — new urbanists will unwind on Sunday with a picnic buffet and Rockies game at downtown Coors Field. To join us, just be among the first 60 to register for the Congress (4-days or full package), reserve a stay through Saturday at the Sheraton Denver — this year's Congress headquarters — and write us to claim your ticket.

It's as easy as a trip around the bases after a home-run shot:

First base: Register by May 8 for at least 4 days of CNU 17, the world's leading urbanism conference.
Second base: Reserve your stay through Saturday night at the Sheraton Denver, at the heart of all the CNU 17 action.
Third base: Be among the first 60 to e-mail Congress@cnu.org with your CNU 17 confirmation number and Sheraton reservation confirmation number.
Home plate: We'll have a picnic and baseball ticket waiting for you in Denver (pending quick verification of your stay).

With a stay at the Sheraton, four indispensable days at the Congress, and the Sunday game, you'll be a triple winner.

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A hotbed oF housing design innovation

Housing design ideas at cnu 17 are Green, smart about space, cutting-edge and often traditional

When the Wall Street Journal devoted several pages this week to featuring four "green homes of the future," one of those homes was by CNU member and two-time Charter-Award-winning architect Steve Mouzon, who will share his design expertise in several sessions at CNU 17. Unlike the three other homes featured, Mouzon's design (shown here) didn't look particularly futuristic, though every inch of it was green, with features ranging from solar panels embedded in the roof to "melon cradles" that allow heavy vegetables and fruits to grow up walls and a central "breeze chimney," a ages-old form of air conditioning. The design fits Mouzon's philosophy of Original Green, which draws on centuries of traditional design knowledge to create designs for sustainable and "lovable" buildings.

Two big names in traditional design, Marianne Cusato and Andrés Duany, will join Mouzon in a much-anticipated Friday session on housing for the "new era" of weak economies and energy volatility. With the changing economic climate presenting an opportunity to redefine home design in favor of smaller, more efficient dwellings that perform better environmentally and cost less to build and inhabit, two initiatives the SmartDwelling and the New Economy Home seek to integrate the best lifestyle elements of the McMansion decade with the efficiency, endurance and elegance of traditional architecture. Learn about “new” forms of housing and their benefits given today’s state of affairs. Tim Halbur, Managing Editor of Planetizen, moderates.

And don't miss Ben Bolgar and Hank Dittmar of the Prince's Foundation with Steve Mouzon in an in-depth Thursday New Urbanism 202 seminar on integrating craft, architecture, and urban design in the practice of New Urbanism. Countering the critique of many new urbanist developments that the architecture and build quality do not measure up to the quality of the urbanism — and addressing the fear that desperation in the development community will lead to a race to the bottom in terms of craftsmanship — this session will examine the role of long-lived, resilient and quality-centered approach to building. It will examine the tools new urbanists use to move from the master plan to the architecture and construction, while exploring the potential for good craft-based jobs to be a factor in a resurgent economy of value rather than consumption, looking at examples in New Orleans, Jamaica, and Britain. Only at CNU 17. Register now.