In light of yet another vehicle-ramming attack in Munster, Germany, are pedestrian barriers really the best way to protect the public realm from future attacks - or is this strategy merely akin to playing a real life version of whack-a-mole? Can walkability be the "silver-bullet" we've been looking for in the fight not only to keep people safe, but to make people, the planet, and dare we say, profits happy?
Read MoreIn honor of International Walking Day, we're revisiting the FIU pedestrian bridge collapse, discussing a recent proposal by prominent Miami-based New Urbanists to reenvision 8th street, and offering a limited-time promo for a 14-day free State of Place trial!
Read MoreHow many times do we have to be disappointed by citymaking's next "panacea" before we realize there will NEVER be a silver bullet answer to solving the beautiful, chaotic mess that is a city organism? This might seem odd for a "tech" company to say, but tech alone will NOT save cities - in fact, no one thing alone will save cities! Today we discuss how the devastating FIU pedestrian bridge collapse and the fatal Uber autonomous car accident showcase how it's important to "KISS" our way to better places and use tech as a means and not an end.
Read MoreWe're more than four weeks into the Katapult program in Oslo, so ya know we couldn't resist our datageek selves much longer...so without further ado, we present how three Oslo hoods measure up on the State of Place Index, and how we can save at least two of those (and any of you who are fighting awful planning and development projects) from their fates!
Read MoreOn today’s blog, our Marketing Intern, Laura Schumacher, talks about the luck of the Irish and our lucky treat to all of you, our Ultimate Guide to Walkability Assessment Tools. This guide evaulates the top seven walkability assessment tools and helps you find the right one to use for your development project, neighborhood, or city.
Read MoreWhat do Mexico & Norway have in common? Plus we have exciting news to share...
Read MoreFor the past few years, our team has been working with Conservation Law Foundation to review and rate real estate development projects for the Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund (HNEF). One of their challenges is measuring all of the myriad factors that influence the neighborhood environment and the way these features interact with each other. That’s why CLF turned to State of Place. Learn how cities and investors can follow CLF's approach by using State of Place to measure the impact of redevelopment projects...
Read MoreAccording to Google Trends, this is the time of year that students are evaluating cities for their summer internship potential. Maybe your city has the right internship programs in place to attract the best, but do you have the right amenities that will make your summer interns stay past August? We turned to the top urbanists to find out how cities can convince summer interns to stay for the long-term. Here are their top tips...
Read MoreIn celebration of Valentine's Day, let's talk about the one thing that we love more than anything: Street Transformations! We can't get enough of those Before & After shots of cities showing their streets a little love. We analyzed Streetsblog's six nominated blocks for Best Urban Street Transformation 2017 and revealed which city had the biggest transformation according to the data...
Read MoreToday's post comes from our CTO Andy Likuski, who spent last week attending the New Partners for Smart Growth conference in San Francisco. He shares his experience and makes the case for why autonomous cars will enable us to create more car-free streets.
Read MoreWe know there's a lot of disappointment in the cities passed over by Amazon. BUT we're on a mission to prove that the RFP process is unnecessarily complicated and wasteful. Let's co-create the model for how all RFPs should be handled in the future. We're calling on all 218 would-be-lover cities to send us their proposals! We'll pick 3 proposals to run through our software to quantify your before and proposed after, and then we'll calculate how the proposals would in-turn drive economic development. Join our RFP transformation movement...
Read MorePlace-lovers, city-nerds, urban datageeks - by now you all know that Amazon has entered Phase II of its Eharmony-for-cities quest for "the one," announcing the 20 cities still in the running. But how will Amazon decide? We put together a cool infographic to get to know the finalists better and discussed how best to assess the X-factor - livability - in today's blog!
Read MoreWe're excited to announce the launch of our very own research think tank: the Urban Data Geeks (UDG) Lab!
Read MoreWe quizzed hundreds of City-Makers from all around the world about their habits & preferences in the city-making process. Here's what they had to say...
Read MoreTake the quiz to reveal what type of City-Maker you are...
Read MoreThis is the third installment of our Suburban Mom series by our COO, Michelle Drouse Woodhouse, about placemaking and the State of Suburban Places. In the first two installments, Michelle reflected back on her very urban, spontaneous life sans-kids, and then discussed her renewed appreciation of the importance of mobility, inclusivity, and choice with the introduction of her two daughters and her move to the suburbs of Detroit. In this next installment, Michelle builds upon our Technical Product Manager Alli's observations about the role of malls in placemaking and shares how she's getting into the holiday “place” spirit...at the mall...
Read MoreWith less than two weeks left before Christmas, we thought we’d reprise last year’s epic trip to one of Houston’s largest malls and take the pulse of America’s seemingly dying pastime. This year, our Technical Product Manager got in on the “fun.” Read about her recent visit to one of the DC area’s megamalls - Tysons Corner Center - with her 2 and 4 year old in tow. You’ll be surprised at what she discovered!
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