HUD will soon issue a NOFA under the Sustainable Communities Partnership. The Partnership has identified capacity building for federal agencies and grant recipients in its list of priorities. NCI’s new project consulting program builds local capacity in collaborative planning through on-the-job training. Please e-mail us for more information.

[Read more →]

One of the case studies in The Charrette Handbook takes place in Hercules, California. It chronicles a charrette that took place in 2000 to plan an urban center for the suburban town. Dover, Kohl and Partners created a form-based code that has successfully guided development under the charrette vision of a traditional town center. [...]

[Read more →]

The first few weeks following a charrette represent a window of opportunity in which to guarantee positive momentum for the project. If weeks pass without communication between the project management team and the stakeholders, then any person or group has the opportunity to control the discussion. A lack of attention during this short time frame [...]

[Read more →]

During one charrette to create a town center for a California community, the fire chief verbally approved the proposed new street sections. The new proposal called for narrower streets with parallel parking in residential areas as well as the town center. A very short time later, he retired. The new fire chief disavowed the street [...]

[Read more →]