Cities can make parks feel safe and accommodating for housed and unhoused residents alike. A new toolkit shows what that looks like.

Picture Berczy Park in Toronto – before the cute dog statues were added to the fountain. On a hot summer day at this modest little slice of green in an otherwise busy downtown area, a woman decides to sit on the fountain’s edge.

By all accounts, Tulsa’s riverfront project is a smashing success. Can Tony Moore work that same magic between the levees here?

The National Register of Historic Places lists over 95,000 entries, from the famous (the Statue of Liberty) to the infamous (Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay) to the downright strange (a six-story elephant statue outside of Atlantic City named Lucy). Despite the extraordinary range of places that have earned a spot on the register, just two percent of its sites focus on the experiences of Black Americans, according to a recent story in the New Yorker.

In 2013, Friends of The Underline founder Meg Daly had a bike accident and broke both of her arms. Unable to drive herself to physical therapy, she began taking the Miami Metrorail, an often overlooked means of transportation.

Today, when one looks at the coffers of the American project, it might seem easy to despair at what seems an empty cupboard. In a time when 75 million people vehemently believe one thing and 80 million people believe the other, how can our country move ahead under a common idea?

A racist mortgage appraisal practice used in the United States decades ago has resulted in less green space in some urban neighborhoods today, researchers say.

As more and more Bay Area residents find themselves without homes, many have defaulted to living in public parks, plazas and squares. These spaces were not designed to be homes, however, and housed users often voice concerns that the presence of unhoused residents renders spaces unwelcoming or even unsafe.

Toronto has long been a city of cyclists, but since the COVID crisis began, biking has surged in both popularity and relevance. People looking for alternatives to public transit during the pandemic are taking up biking as a way to navigate the city. And with the acceleration of cycling-friendly initiatives and infrastructure this past summer, many who were once hesitant about biking in the city, now feel safe enough to do so—though much work remains to be done to reach a “vision zero” benchmark of road safety.

The pandemic quickly shifted most community engagement to virtual arrangements, but not all citizens have ready access to online forums. Public officials can address inequities by finding alternative ways to gather valuable community input.