New Epping’s Post

“It is not the honor that you take with you, but the heritage you leave behind.” —Branch Rickey Over this month we shared just a few of the historic preservation projects within our portfolio of work. We are grateful for all the projects we have touched over our 58-year history, but we are most grateful for the ongoing relationships we maintain with our clients who safeguard these national treasures. We all share in the universal commitment to preserve the past for future generations. Here’s why we value historic preservation and the landmarks we've worked hard to maintain: ◼️ Connecting to Our Roots: Understanding our history fosters community pride and identity. ◼️ Educational Value: Historic sites serve as living classrooms, offering invaluable lessons to all. ◼️ Promoting Sustainability: Reusing historic buildings is eco-friendly, reducing waste and preserving resources. ◼️ Economic Boost: Preserved sites attract tourism, create jobs, and stimulate local economies. ◼️ Aesthetic Appeal: Historic architecture adds beauty and character to our surroundings. Join us in celebrating preservation projects that keep our heritage alive! #LewisBuildsMaryland #HistoricPreservationMonth #CommunityPride #Sustainability #LocalHistory

New book of the International Planning History Society (IPHS) community Community Green: Rediscovering the enclosed spaces of the garden suburb tradition by David Nichols and Robert Freestone   This new book considers the continuing value of small open spaces in urban environments. Community Green uses the lens of the enclosed suburban spaces popularized by the garden city tradition from the early 20th century that have assumed numerous guises through to contemporary new urbanism and beyond. The book explores both the potential and problems of neighbourhood green spaces across an historical global narrative through various guises including children’s playgrounds, places for passive recreation, natural conservation precincts, and community and allotment gardens. A focus on people’s understandings and misunderstandings of these distinctive spaces injects human stories of cooperation and innovation. Community Green is published by Routledge (2024, ISBN 978-0367-46245-1, pbk).   Learn More: https://lnkd.in/gxDXSk2G

Historic preservation is critical to urban development and cultural conservation and offers various economic, social and cultural benefits. These benefits range from economic stimulation through job creation and tourism to fostering community bonds and preserving cultural narratives. In this #IndustryInsight, RDG Architect Scotney Fenton, AIA, explores the benefits of preserving historic structures and delves into the rich history of the Civic Center Historic District, including key RDG projects that helped rejuvenate this iconic area of downtown Des Moines, Iowa. https://loom.ly/11ugpBc

The ripple effect of this reality is significant to our communities and environment with the expanded asphalt/hard surfaces routing greater volumes of stormwater into our already overtaxed sewer systems. In turn, more energy is consumed to continually treat this ever growing collected grey water.

Tactical Urbanism ++ [revitalization activations for cities] >> Tactical urbanism refers to grassroots, temporary, and low-cost interventions in public spaces that aim to improve the livability and functionality of cities. These interventions can include pop-up parks, public art installations, pedestrian and cyclist-friendly infrastructure, and community events. While tactical urbanism projects may be temporary in nature, they often have long-lasting economic and social benefits for cities. Some of these benefits include: *Increased foot traffic *Enhanced community [local entrepreneurs] engagement *Reimagined public spaces *Economic revitalization Photo: Andrea-von-Bujdoss, pavement-to-plaza intervention in Williamsburg, Brooklyn 16'

#AccessibleEU brought together international experts in accessible urbanism in an event about #SmartCities held in Madrid on 2 July. The event aimed to raise awareness and promote best practices in accessibility within urban environments, and was structured around the following topics: - Smart human cities: technology at the service of urban design and mobility for all; - Users of the urban environment: needs, problems and good practices for the use and enjoyment of public spaces; - Lessons learned from the award-winning cities in the European Commission's Access City Award; - New urban developments: strategies and challenges for effectively incorporating accessibility in urban design processes. #AccessibleCities #InclusiveUrbanDesign

📣 NEW from C40’s Urban Planning and Design team 📣 C40 has released new guidance for cities to improve their public spaces. Public spaces should be places for everyone, they should be adaptable and most importantly, centred around people. Yet often, their potential is not reflected in how they are designed. Parks, playgrounds, plazas and waterfronts bring communities together and are integral to our lives, livelihoods and happiness. Practical, local actions are outlined in the guide, that allow cities to engage meaningfully with local communities. Read the guide and transform your city: https://c40.me/3QJSHgb

👉🏻Check out this new guide which includes practical, #local actions that #cities can take to improve their #public spaces and #engage meaningfully with the #community 😄

The new approach to this so called "URBAN PLANNING" should be to DECENTRALIZE, go back to living simple, living in communities, sharing resources, sharing traditional wisdom and knowledge. Because THAT is the ONLY WAY TO SAVE THIS PLANET and the WESTERN WORLD needs to let go of this dependence on materialism and encourage Western city dwellers to do the same as what most non western communities are doing. SAVE THE WORLD. GO BACK TO TRADITION, CULTURE, NATURE !

Agree fully, we need to start taxing cars by width and length as well as by value and emissions.