Designing 'Main Street,' but not for Disneyland

An interesting editorial from Planetizen today by Scott Doyan of PlaceMakers, a planning and design firm specializing in, as you might guess, place-making. Here's a snippet:

All across the country, Main Street retail is hurting. In some cases, this is a reflection of far more complex, and often regional, economic factors. But in others, it’s in places that have made great strides towards creating (or recreating) thriving downtowns.

That’s the kind of place I’m talking about. As our urban renaissance gathers greater momentum, we need to look at ways that common practices can either help or hinder municipal efforts to encourage a more viable economic environment.

Head to Planetizen to read the full post below, and check out some of PlaceMaker's projects on their webpage:

Planetizen
Placemakers (original blog post)