At the CNU31 and Strong Towns National Gathering confabs this year, I heard a lot of language that would put planners and designers in a very small minority outside the walls of the conference center. I get it - it’s a niche audience. It exists to critique American cities and towns, and make them better. A fair amount of what happens is venting.

But an awful lot of what I increasingly hear simply condescends towards what normal Americans value and choose in large numbers. We can do better by our cities and towns, without wishing for a revolution (which will never happen) that completely upends our built environment and culture of property ownership. More importantly, if we want to have success in making our places stronger, more walkable, more bike-friendly, etc, we must work within the context we have. By the way, it’s not so bad, so lighten up a little bit.

In addition to this short rant, I recap other aspects of the combined conference in Charlotte. And I ask the question, is CNU at an end? All the various offshoots - including NTBA, FBCI, National Charrette Institute, Strong Towns, IncDev, The Urban Guild - all seem to have much more energy.

Finally, I give a short version of my session on AI, which I delivered at the conference. Yes, I think AI will have remarkable and yuuuge effects on the built environment and all the professions that work with it. Short version: the 20th century commute-to-the-office economy is over. Buckle up, as I read into my crystal ball.

As always, please give me your feedback.

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Music notes: all songs by low standards, ca. 2010. Videos here. If you’d like a CD for low standards, message me and you can have one for only $5.

Intro: “Why Be Friends”

Outro: “Fairweather Friend”

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