Revitalization writer to speak at two events

Cities and suburbs are embracing walkable, mixed-use developments.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A nationally recognized writer on the topic of mixed-use development in urban and suburban areas, a revitalization movement known as New Urbanism, will conduct two talks in the area.
Philip Langdon will speak at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 in the Butler Auditorium at the Butler Institute of American Art. The topic will be "Enlivening the City: How Cities Refocus and Rebuild."
Langdon will discuss what cities around the United States are doing to reverse their declines and rebuild in ways that create lively, walkable residential neighborhoods and shopping districts.
He contends that American cities are getting better at recognizing and accentuating the virtues of old neighborhoods. Revitalization of old neighborhoods appeal to young people and couples whose children are grown and on their own, he argues.
Another topic
Langdon also will speak at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 at the Poland Library. The topic will be "Reshaping the Suburbs: How to Create More Livable Communities."
Langdon will discuss how some suburbs are fostering mixed-use developments in new and old town centers. He contends that such growth helps communities create or preserve distinctive character. Such developments serve people of all ages and income types better than the typical suburban pattern of isolated single-family home developments and commercial strips, he argues.
Langdon is the author of several books and senior editor of New Urban News, a national newsletter. The newsletter reports on development of communities that organize homes, stores, parks and other elements of daily life into compact, pedestrian-friendly settings.
New Urban News reported in January that there were 19 developments in Ohio -- the redevelopment of the old Smoky Hollow neighborhood in Youngstown being one of them -- designed with new urbanist principles in the planning or construction stage
Such developments range from inner city to suburban and are aimed at organizing businesses and housing within interconnected streets designed to be walkable communities.