At first glance, Cahuenga Peak, the backdrop to the Hollywood sign, might seem more like a supporting actor than a bona fide star. But it got its moment in the spotlight last year as The Trust for Public Land helped save it from becoming a luxury housing development. Now it has been named “Best New [...]
Filed under: green infrastructure, planning, renewal | Tagged: awards, los angeles, new york city, rankings, waterfronts | 1 Comment »
In November the Knight Foundation released findings from their Soul of the Community study, a three-year project aimed to understand resident attachment to place, what drives it and why it matters in 26 U.S. communities. Of the 10 attributes studied, the top three were: Social Offerings – Places for people to meet each other and [...]
Filed under: economics | Tagged: rankings, research | Leave a Comment »
The American College of Sports Medicine is out with its annual list of the United States’ fittest cities. The top five are: 1) Washington, D.C.; 2) Boston; 3) Minneapolis; 4) Seattle and 5) Portland, Oregon. The ratings are based on 30 factors ranging from disease rates, mortality, physical attributes and lifestyle, fruit and vegetable consumption [...]
Filed under: health | Tagged: rankings | 1 Comment »
Forbes.com today ran a “Best City Parks” article and slide show. The list is different in that it doesn’t simply give the most well known city parks in the country. Sure, Central Park is mentioned, but also highlighted are some of the lesser publicized but loved greenspaces that define what urban parks can be. This [...]
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The American Planning Association is again out with its top ten list of great public spaces for 2009. According to the APA, characteristics of a Great Public Space include: Promotes human contact and social activities. Is safe, welcoming, and accommodating for all users. Has design and architectural features that are visually interesting. Promotes community involvement. [...]
Filed under: planning | Tagged: rankings | 1 Comment »
Forbes.com is out with its annual list of the “Best Cities for the Outdoors.” The list looks at a combination of issues from climate to parks, using TPL’s data on city parks. (Some cold-weather cities and their cross-country skiers may take issue with using measures such as snowfall.) The winner: San Francisco. Perhaps one wouldn’t [...]
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The American Planning Association is out with its Great Places awards that includes 10 “Great Public Spaces” awarded to the following (not all are parks, but pretty close): New York City, NY – Central Park Burlington, VT – Church Street Marketplace Pittsburgh, PA – Mellon Square Portland, OR – Pioneer Courthouse Square Santa Monica, CA [...]
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Travel + Leisure is out with its 2008 America’s Favorite Cities survey, which asked travelers to rank 25 top U.S. cities in 45 categories, ranging from food and shopping to people, culture, nightlife, and more. (Reportedly more than 125,000 opinionated travelers voted.) “Parks and access to the outdoors” is one area the magazine surveys on, [...]
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SustainLane is out with its annual ranking of sustainability for the 50 most-populous cities in the nation, benchmarking each city’s performance in 16 areas. The particular category of interest to parks is “Planning & Land Use,” which combines data from the Center for City Park Excellence on parks as a percent of land area in each city with Smart [...]
Filed under: planning | Tagged: rankings, sprawl, sustainability | Leave a Comment »
