Week of June 10 – 17, 2013
What will proposed elimination of the LA Swift service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans on June 30 mean for commuters?
Week of June 3 – 10, 2013
A TND breaks ground in New Iberia, which will make smart growth available for all
Week of May 20 – May 27, 2013
We remember a friend and partner.
Week of May 13 – May 20, 2013
Smart Growth America releases a new report on the fiscal benefits of smart growth
Week of May 6 – May 13, 2013
Submit your nomination for the 2013 Great Places in Louisiana awards program through May 31!
Week of April 29 – May 6, 2013
2013 Great Places in Louisiana awards program still accepting applications!
Week of April 22 – 29, 2013
2013 Great Places in Louisiana awards program now accepting applications!
Week of April 15 – 22, 2013
It’s National Volunteer Week and opportunities to get involved in your community abound!
Week of April 1 – 8, 2013
Join us for Better Block BR this weekend or find another event in your area focusing on transportation, healthy living and design!
Week of March 18 – 25, 2013
Latest infrastructure report card is out: Louisiana scores a C-
Week of March 11-18, 2013
New resources for Louisiana’s coastal communities are highlighted in the news this week
Week of March 4-11, 2013
Opportunities abound in helping your community reach its vision.
Week of February 25 – March 4, 2013
It’s important not to get bogged down in measuring success, but it is also important not to oversimplify.
Week of January 28 – February 4, 2013
A necessary part of bridging the gap from early adopters to widespread bicycle commuting is the creation of infrastructure and policies that support a bike-commuter lifestyle.
Week of January 21 – 28, 2013
Congratulations to CPEX’s Community Planning and Implementation team for receiving two 2013 Excellence Awards from the American Planning Association Louisiana Chapter!
Week of January 14 – 22, 2013
“And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” – Dr. MLK, Jr.
Week of January 8 – 14, 2013
Folks, we have a couple of important dates for you worth mentioning in addition to our usual “Dates” sidebar.
Weeks of December 17, 2012 – January 8, 2013
The holiday shopping season has come to a close, hopefully abating some of the traffic issues that brought the capital city regularly to a halt.
Week of December 10 – 17, 2012
An underlying assumption in our efforts is that our children will have the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of our labor, but last week in Newtown, that opportunity was stolen from 20 first graders, and six adults who had dedicated their careers to teaching and protecting those children.
Week of December 3 – 10, 2012
If we are content with being the least healthy state year over year, then let’s ignore what we learned at the summit.
Week of November 19 – December 3, 2012
We are recovering from another highly successful and locally relevant Smart Growth Summit and have nothing to say but thanks to all the sponsors, speakers, our planning committee volunteers and attendees who helped us knock this one out of the park.
Week of November 12 – 19, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving, folks! While most of you are stuffing turkeys, we are busy stuffing nametags and programs for next week’s Smart Growth Summit!
Week of November 5 – 12, 2012
Over the last year, nearly 80% of transportation initiatives have succeeded at the voting booths.
Week of October 29 – November 5, 2012
In a condensed time frame between election and a disaster, we are witnessing the ugliest and prettiest parts of the American system.
Week of October 22 – 29, 2012
It’s one week till election day and the final day for early voting, so we’d like to provide you with a few useful links to help you make informed decisions about the candidates and amendments you will see on the ballot.
Week of October 15 – 22, 2012
Working together, we can leverage our resources to meet the need for safer transportation options for all.
Week of October 8 – 15, 2012
Let’s forget about planning for a moment and focus our attention on democratization, or the idea of making things available to everyone.
Week of October 1 – 8, 2012
With exactly four weeks to go until election day, we are hitting a peak for the invasion of partisan politics into nearly every aspect of our lives.
Week of September 24 – October 1, 2012
A chilling line was printed in the Baton Rouge Advocate this week: “Sunday’s incident was the third this year in which a bicyclist was killed.”
Week of September 17 – 24, 2012
We would like to share a few image highlights with you from last Friday’s walking audit in the New Orleans CBD with Dan Burden of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute.
Week of September 10 – 17, 2012
The built environment plays a role in the lifestyle choices we make everyday, and that role can be either constraining or empowering.
Week of September 3 – 10, 2012
Today, we at CPEX and the Baton Rouge metro area at large are mourning not one, but two tremendous losses for our community.
Weeks of August 20 – September 3, 2012
Wow—we step away from publishing our newsletter for one week and everything goes haywire! Summit rescheduled, Complete Streets Manual launched.
Week of August 13 – 20, 2012
Thursday is the cutoff for early registration for the Smart Growth Summit.
Week of Week of August 6 – 13, 2012
Congratulations to Jim Sullivan and his students at the LSU School of Architecture for being named recipients of the Rose Award by the American Institute of Architects Baton Rouge!
Week of July 30 – August 6, 2012
Imagine you were blind. How would you get around?
Week of July 23 – 30, 2012
“We are facing tough challenges in this economy and the public should know that planners stand ready to work with the public to build a better future one neighborhood at a time.”
Week of July 16 – 23, 2012
We can tout the benefits of investing in transportation options all day long, but success is dependent on the delivery of services, otherwise the interest we are seeing now could wane again.
Week of July 9 – 16, 2012
While widening may be appropriate for certain places and situations, no amount of widening will provide the relief of a better connected network of streets that support choices in terms of routes and modes of travel.
Week of July 2 – 9, 2012
Monday evening, CPEX hosted a group of professionals and academics at the Baton Rouge Area Foundation for a talk by Ellen Dunham-Jones, AIA, on the topic of Retrofitting Suburbia (which also happens to be the name of her book).
Week of June 25 – July 2, 2012
Happy 4th of July! In honor of the holiday, we have some nationwide news to report…
Week of June 18 – 25, 2012
CPEX has published our 2011 Annual Report and we invite you to visit our website and download the report to see for yourself how we are improving lives in Louisiana communities.
Week of June 11 – 18, 2012
Two worlds of connective infrastructure are colliding: transportation and technology. Which side of history do we want to be on?
Weeks of May 21 – June 4, 2012
In Louisiana, we have no shortage of creative talent, artistic heritage and cultural offerings.
Week of May 14 – 21, 2012
Another difficult story this week for a Louisiana cyclist: 22 year-old Mickey Shunick disappeared early Saturday morning in Lafayette.
Week of May 7 – 14, 2012
Encouraging developments in housing news this week show market shifts in Louisiana towards increasing housing options in downtown areas, where residents have walkable access to their city’s major job centers.
Week of April 30 – May 7, 2012
Every good manmade thing starts out as an idea – even if inspired by accident.
Week of April 23 – 30, 2012
…as you take in a festival or two this season, consider how walkability (or a lack thereof) impacts your experience, and think about how your community can get a slice of that $9.4 billion dollar pie!
Week of April 16 – 23, 2012
Maybe its the excitement of festival season in the air, but while citizens are turning out in droves in Lafayette to contribute their ideas to the comprehensive planning process, Baton Rouge is making a few changes of its own.
Week of April 9 – 16, 2012
At CPEX, we hope voters will make an effort to become informed before heading to the polls on Saturday to vote on transit reform, to truly understand what has gotten Baton Rouge to this point, how the potential investment would be used and what taxpayers should expect in the event that the ballot issue passes (or doesn’t).
Week of April 2 – 9, 2012
Places are what we get when we remember to design the physical realm for what? You guessed it: people.
Week of March 26 – April 2, 2012
As the housing market struggles to regain footing, it has become a clear national trend that connected, walkable communities are faring better that auto-dependent communities and cities are turning inward, re-investing in their cores, where their dollars go further.
Week of March 19 – 26, 2012
The proposition of relying strictly on roads is unsustainable, and the Titanic is sinking fast.
Week of March 12 – 19, 2012
There is a lot going on right now that you have to know about! First of all, CPEX is in the process of putting together two very exciting events in Baton Rouge during the first week of April.
Week of March 5 – 12, 2012
Rural communities offer a unique setting in which creative entrepreneurs can take a lower risk approach to business, investment, lifestyle decisions and even self-expression.
Week of February 27 – March 5, 2012
No grant applications, no bureaucratic headaches, just a direct connection to the best funding source of all: other community members.
Week of February 20 – 27, 2012
Is your community taking advantage of this calm to prepare for the imminent storm?
Week of February 13 – 20, 2012
Happy Lundi Gras! We know everyone is busy celebrating in their own way, so please enjoy this abbreviated edition of Planning in the News and have a safe and happy holiday!
Week of February 6 – 13, 2012
At a time when Louisiana communities need to be smarter than ever about growth and investments, we have to be vigilant about seeing and communicating the facts through the partisan fog.
Week of January 30 – February 6, 2012
Let’s do what we can to prevent artificial barriers from robbing Louisiana citizens of their chance to choose prosperous futures.
Week of January 23 – 30, 2012
Smart planning and responsible development are vital for any community because they allow urban communities to deal with crime, coastal communities to face the threat of disaster and all communities to protect all types of transportation users, but they are also inspiring practices that improve lives for people of all ages.
Week of January 16 – 23, 2012
This past Saturday evening around 8:45 PM, one cyclist was killed and another injured presumably by a drunk driver on Perkins Road in Baton Rouge.
Week of January 9 – 16, 2012
Rolling up our sleeves as friends, neighbors and just generally good citizens to make a difference on a very local scale improves lives, engages community members and sustains interest and excitement around all of those long-term benefits we patiently anticipate.
Week of January 2 – 9, 2012
It’s a new year, a new term for Governor Bobby Jindal, the economy seems to be picking up and early polls show the Tigers may be ranked number one at the beginning of next season (we’ve already forgotten about that game last night).
Week of December 19, 2011 – January 3, 2012
Happy New Year! As the last family members trickle out the door and our bellies return to their more natural capacity, we welcome you back to the daily grind with a lightweight edition of Planning in the News.
Week of December 12 – 19, 2011
The small rural towns of America have unlimited creative potential, and it is the job of concerned citizens like us to preserve and nurture those qualities.
Week of December 5 – 12, 2011
Until we crack the code for getting 100% public participation, we hope you silent majority members out there will decide to speak up, and you can start by pledging support for the Baton Rouge Transit Coalition!
Week of November 21 – December 5, 2011
Sometimes when building infrastructure and developing land, we forget that actual humans have to use it.
Week of November 14 – 21, 2011
Congratulations to Jean Lafitte, St. Charles Parish, and all other Louisiana communities working to improve the quality of life for their residents!
Week of November 7 – 14, 2011
This week both Baton Rouge and New Orleans got some bad news on the transit front – NOLA is reducing growth plans while the capital city is cutting back on existing services as transit funds for CATS wane.
Week of October 31 – November 7, 2011
It is a worthwhile exercise to take some of the sticking points in the national debates over things like healthcare, debt and taxes and see how they apply to issues of transportation infrastructure. It seems billions of dollars in hard-earned taxpayer cash has been exempted from these debates without us realizing it!
Week of October 24 – 31, 2011
On the surface, encouraging news abounds around Louisiana and our communities taking charge of their futures through community-driven planning processes from Jean Lafitte, to ULL, to Vernon, to Baton Rouge, but the real news comes after the plan, where the rubber meets the road.
Week of October 17 – 24, 2011
A big news week for transportation in Louisiana and beyond!
Week of October 10 – 17, 2011
Could it be that social networks + public space = movements? Could we then assume that any attempt to reduce public space is inherently a plot to silence the masses?
Week of October 3-10, 2011
Take a cue from Steve Jobs and question the status quo. Rather than mourn his death, let’s learn from his example and try to integrate creativity and innovation into the decisions and development of our communities.
Week of September 26-October 3, 2011
It takes real leaders to recognize that our problems and solutions are complex and require more than just cold cash and warm bodies to address.
Week of September 19-26, 2011
For all of those who attended this year’s Smart Growth Summit, please take a moment to fill out the survey in an effort to help us improve next year’s summit.
Week of September 12 – 19, 2011
Vernon Parish is standing at an exciting crossroads: soon to be the recipient of substantial federal and state investment dollars, the community is in the process of developing a comprehensive plan for growth with assistance from CPEX.
Week of September 5 – 12, 2011
Sustainable Communities Under Threat – We interrupt this issue of Planning in the News to bring you an urgent message from Smart Growth America…
Week of August 29 – September 5, 2011
Our thoughts go out to the folks in Jean Lafitte and all communities adversely effected by Tropical Storm Lee over the weekend.
Week of August 22 – 29, 2011
There is a fun game growing in popularity that involves exposing the true nature of life’s various expenses as taxes-in-disguise…
Week of August 15-22, 2011
It is tough to measure success of an event aimed at educating, promoting conversation and yielding emergent collaborations and solutions, but if success is directly related to exposure, we are in good shape.
Week of August 1-8, 2011
The summit is designed to be a platform to talk about solutions, and in the spirit of problem-solving, this week’s stories highlight a few examples of solutions to community-based problems.
Week of July 25 – August 1, 2011
Topics in the news this week have us convinced that “Creating Communities that Work” was the appropriate theme to choose for this year’s summit.
Week of July 18-25, 2011
Yes, regionalism works, but it is more than just a marketing campaign. It is a commitment to being a good neighbor.
Week of July 11-18, 2011
Why do so many exciting experiments in urban design happen in San Francisco?
Week of July 4-11, 2011
GROW, initiated by Baton Rouge Green, Center for Planning Excellence, and the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority has transformed three vacant lots in Old South Baton Rouge through colorful sunflower plantings by volunteers and community members.
Week of June 20-27, 2011
Progress! This week’s newsletter brings stories of a new plan and a new downtown public square for East Baton Rouge Parish, a new way of thinking about libraries in New Orleans and a demand for walkability in the capital city.
Week of June 13-20, 2011
A number of videos were featured in the news this past week, ranging in topic from how New Orleans residents are using gardens as a reviatlization tool, to how Santa Monica is dealing with traffic congestion while preserving their community’s culture and character, to what children are envisioning for our future communities.
Week of June 6-13, 2011
Transit oriented development is a smart investment – but have you ever heard of green space oriented development?
Week of May 30-June 6
While we tend to dismiss the idea as noncritical in discussions of budgets and bottom lines, quality of life is the thing that might keep our children from moving away. Isn’t that worth some kind of sacrifice?
Week of May 16-23, 2011
Louisiana is MUCH more likely to see public and private investment in different modes of transportation infrastructure if users of these modes are present and visible, showing proof of demand.
Week of May 9-16, 2011
Our growth patterns and engineering endeavors do not have to conflict with our natural assets. Resilient communities are not just a pipe dream, they are a necessity.
Week of May 2-9, 2011
Transportation is at the top of our minds again this week (right next to the rising Mississippi), as it often is, in part because CPEX was able to meet with the Louisiana Good Roads and Transportation Association, who shared their informative “The Road We’re On” presentation.
Week of April 25 – May 2, 2011
He knew exactly where he could be the most isolated and untraceable for years on end: Osama Bin Laden was in a disconnected, sprawling community with a poor street grid.
Week of April 18-25, 2011
Is the capital city ready to step up and accept its urbanity? Can Baton Rouge capitalize on its new status as a major market region?
Week of April 11-18, 2011
Perhaps it is because of politics in Washington that have trickled down to Louisiana, or maybe it is the result of old arguments being rekindled, but regardless, the politicization of the high-speed rail discussion is troubling.
Week of April 4-11, 2011
Let’s use community-driven planning to determine what “desirable growth” means, whether rural or urban, and let’s incentivise that kind of growth in a consistent manner, not simply at the whim of power brokers.
Week of March 28-April 4, 2011
The clever use of public art in New Orleans to fill a serious need, beautifying the streets and supporting the vital NOLA arts community at the same time, shines a light on the important relationship between culture and revitalization.
Week of March 21-28, 2011
Cities across Louisiana have recently seen a renewed commitment to community involvement and service projects.
Week of March 14-21, 2011
A number of interactive maps and reports appeared in the news this past week, highlighting how access to transportation or healthy foods can affect quality of life, community satisfaction and annual expenses.
Week of March 7-14, 2011
When neighboring jurisdictions compete against one another for jobs and new development, or plan transportation systems that aren’t complementary, they perpetuate a cycle of regional congestion and wasteful spending.
Week of February 21 – 28, 2011
The important thing to always remember is that communities are comprised of people.
Week of February 14 – 21, 2011
This past week was not insignificant in the parishes of East Baton Rouge and Lafayette, both of them under city/parish consolidated governments.
Week of February 7-14, 2011
The possibilities for creating day-trip collaborative business cultures between economic centers like New Orleans and Baton Rouge are available to us if we chart a course now for better connections tomorrow.
Week of January 31 – February 7, 2011
CPEXers are back in the office now after attending the New Partners for Smart Growth conference in Charlotte, NC, where we took away much fantastic new knowledge and many ideas for our upcoming Smart Growth Summit.
Week of January 24 – 31, 2011
Our state needs your ideas, and CPEX is providing the platform for sharing them.
Week of January 17 – 24, 2011
Just like downtowns and job-centers should be accessible to professionals of all backgrounds, services and infrastructure for aging populations, lower economic classes, student populations, or any self-organizing group could be logically centered in equitable, accessible physical locations.
Week of January 10 – 17, 2011
The OSBR case is not unique. Neighborhoods across the state, country, and the world deal with the same kinds of issues, and similar models to this one can be applied for revitalization.
Week of January 3 – 10, 2011
Let’s not argue with those leaving, let’s think about how to improve quality of life in the urban core, and how to develop suburbs in a way that doesn’t just help out builder’s bottom lines, but actually improves the welfare of the whole region.
Week of December 27, 2010 – January 3, 2011
We hope you had a relaxing and fun-filled holiday season with safe travels (by car, bus, train, bicycle, foot, airplane, etc.) and lots of joy.
Week of December 13 – 20, 2010
Our workforce and transportation options represent the heart and veins of our communities. No community can be healthy when its heart and veins are not functioning properly.
Week of December 6 – 13, 2010
It is for the benefit of our work and yours, and more importantly for the success of Louisiana communities, that we not confuse case studies, best practices and cool innovative urban planning ideas as transferable prescriptions for our audiences.
If we let old fears and prejudices dictate our growth because our leaders want to get re-elected, we will reverse the influx of young talent we have seen in recent years.
Week of November 22 – 29, 2010
This week’s planning news and events shine a light on the positive health and safety impacts Smart Growth can have on communities. Or to rephrase: growth isn’t smart if it doesn’t take these things into consideration.
Week of November 15 – 22, 2010
CPEX’s Director of Redevelopment, Susan Ludwig, has been named one of Business Report’s 2010 Forty Under 40. Congratulations to Susan and the other winners!
Week of November 8 – 15, 2010
To those of you in our audience of all political dispositions, don’t be fooled, turn over the stones before you buy into the buzz, and please come to the table to share your voice.
Week of November 1 – 8, 2010
Consider for a moment the crime crisis in Baton Rouge. Now, consider the economic impacts of cutting hard-working folks off from their access to jobs. Finally, consider the inverse relationship between the economy and crime – when the former goes down, the latter tends to go up.
Week of October 25 – November 1, 2010
Please get out and vote today for the leaders you think will show strength in making our state the best it can be—and please pay close attention to Amendment 8, as it will have an impact on how we revitalize neighborhoods.
Week of October 18 – 25, 2010
We are witnessing a critical moment in American and Louisiana history, and our state is at risk of becoming a blip in the rear view mirror of the world.
Week of October 11 – 18, 2010
What if, instead of thinking strictly in a budget-cutting mode, we started thinking in a brilliant investment mode?
Week of October 4 – 11, 2010
Innovation and innovators are all around us every day. Some innovations are gamechanging, while others are minor and go unnoticed, but can add up to massive cumulative change…
Week of September 27 – October 4, 2010
The simultaneous trends of suburban flight and lack of support for transportation options paint a dark future for the Capital City – and this is applicable to a lot of cities in Louisiana…
Week of September 20 – 27, 2010
While especially vigilant communities with eyes on the street and minimized blighted and vacant properties may be undesirable places to commit crimes, there is a flip side to the problem: the communities where criminals are bred…
Week of September 13 – 20, 2010
Please enjoy this brief version of Planning in the News and we’ll be back in full force next week…
Weeks of August 30 – September 13, 2010
Our transportation investments are bogged down in a 20th century automobile-focused track of thinking—a track that has ultimately put us in the glamorous position of having the worst roads in the country…
Week of August 23 – August 30, 2010
We are seeing in the news the absurdly congested results of car dependency on micro and macro scales—at home and abroad—as Baton Rouge and Beijing face gridlock when their precious interstates are taken away…
Week of August 16 – August 23, 2010
Specific topics and needs for our communities: connecting the economic powerhouses of Baton Rouge and New Orleans by train and an expanded transit and housing network, eliminating food deserts that mar our landscapes, building differently on the coast so our infrastructure and developments double as storm defense systems. The list goes on…
Week of August 9 – August 16, 2010
A lot is going on in the planning world – not the least of which is this week’s Smart Growth Summit!
Week of August 2 – August 9, 2010
Planning in the News will be brief this week and next as we are nose deep in Smart Growth Summit preparation…
Week of July 26 – August 2, 2010
A consistent challenge when going from planning for urban centers to planning for suburban and rural communities involves a distaste for zoning and regulations—both often perceived as encroachments on individual property rights…
Week of July 19 – 26, 2010
Due to extenuating circumstances, this week’s Planning in the News will be an abbreviated version…
Week of July 12 – 19, 2010
While determinants for walkability might be unique for each audience, they are universal in at least two ways: 1. they do not conflict with each other (a young professional may not need a longer walk signal, but he/she is not likely to object to one) and 2. there is no community, urban, suburban, or rural, that would not benefit…
Weeks of June 28 – July 12, 2010
Smart Growth and planning are meaningless to the majority of citizens and taxpayers. Schools systems, economic development, opportunity, safety and crime prevention, disaster recovery—these are terms that have meaning…
Week of June 21 – 28, 2010
As the Louisiana Recovery Authority sunsets five years after Katrina and Rita, it might be a good idea to pause and reflect on how we have fared—or as founding LRA board member Walt Leger said in the final board meeting, “How’d you do?”
Week of June 14 – 21, 2010
Why do you love Louisiana? With the hurricanes, oil spills, governmental corruption, incredible heat, and education issues, why are you still here? There must be something about this place…
Week of June 7 – 14, 2010
An interesting trend this week’s articles is a twist on NIMBYism. As it turns out, we have a paradoxical case of property rights ideology in Louisiana…
Week of June 1-7, 2010
Why aren’t we holding government accountable when developers build cheap sprawling developments on the fringes of our communities and taxpayers eventually cover the cost to maintain roads and build out sewage infrastructure?
Week of May 24 – June 1, 2010
Due to the holiday weekend, this week’s Planning in the News will be brief…
Week of May 17 – 24, 2010
Those who grasp how better communities lead to a higher quality of life, increased business investment and economic development, and a reduction in the number of our kids leaving us for greener pastures, bear the responsibility of becoming embedded educators on these topics…
Week of May 10 – 17, 2010
Here is a question for you: considering the battles fought over ridership revenues, operating costs, and government-spending related to public transit, has anyone ever asked about the extent to which we are subsidizing roads?
Week of May 3-10, 2010
In Louisiana, while the rest of the country grows more diverse, invests in public transit to connect economic hubs, and changes land use patterns to promote sustainable community growth, we risk missing the bus in spite of the current, continued influx of federal and philanthropic dollars we are experiencing…
Week of April 26 – May 3, 2010
It is a grim time for Gulf Coast communities and our industries and culture. Even in New Orleans, folks are complaining about the smell of crude oil…
Week of April 19 to 26, 2010
In this festival season we are finding that the planning and Smart Growth-related activity is intensifying…
Week of April 12 to 19, 2010
Happy Earth Day! We are pleased to roll out our new Planning in the News email newsletter format…
