June 05 2013
June 5th, 2013Posted by Sunny Menozzi
Astana, Kazakhstan. Astana’s extensive greenery contrasts sharply with its backdrop, the Kazakh steppe, an expansive plain characterized by whipping winds and extreme seasonal temperature fluctuations. In the winter, temperatures plummet to -45, while in summer, temperatures rise to 99 degrees Fahrenheit! Astana’s parks and recreational spaces, landscaped institutional and civic commons, and tree-lined thoroughfares are practical [...]
May 22 2013
May 22nd, 2013Posted by Sunny Menozzi
Home to the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, the Carnegie Museums and Library, Phipps Conservatory, and the expansive Schenley Park, Oakland, a neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a product of the City Beautiful movement. It is a center of knowledge, art, and culture, enriched by its civic spaces and ample greenery. The University of [...]
May 08 2013
May 8th, 2013Posted by Sunny Menozzi
Located in northern Washington, DC, to the east of Rock Creek Park and south of Silver Spring, Maryland, Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), once redeveloped, will fuse new commercial establishments and residences into a community of established residential neighborhoods. The Department of State will retain the smaller portion of the 113-acre WRAMC campus, while [...]
April 24 2013
April 24th, 2013Posted by Sunny Menozzi
Why is the Village of Pinehurst Important? Pinehurst was and is: A convalescent resort built for New Englanders in Moore County by American Soda Fountain Company magnate James W. Tufts; A New-England-style village and recreational resort, planned and landscaped by landscape architecture pioneers Fredrick Law Olmsted and Warren H. Manning, that would court those in [...]
April 10 2013
April 10th, 2013Posted by Sunny Menozzi
Fayetteville, North Carolina. Fayetteville’s forward-looking, 2030 draft “Growth Vision” imagines the city’s evolution: the sprawling, car-dependent home to Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base – characterized by its bedroom communities, “big box” stores, and chain restaurants – will grow into a city of walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods. Is this feasible? Perhaps. The Expansive Cross Creek [...]
March 27 2013
March 27th, 2013Posted by Sunny Menozzi
High-income residential and resort communities line Oahu’s most beautiful beaches: Along the North Shore; Near Kailua and Lanikai Beaches (where President Obama and his family vacationed this winter); Near Waialae Beah Park. Property owners in these and other areas have used greenery, including fast-growing vines and shrubbery, to obscure public easements. This trick of landscape [...]
March 13 2013
March 13th, 2013Posted by Sunny Menozzi
Early on a Saturday morning, the Kapiolani Community College (KCC) Farmers’ Market in Honolulu, Hawaii, bustles as patrons compete to purchase 100% Kona Coffee, locally made honey, and Hawaiian-grown produce and flowers. This market is only one of several Saturday markets on Oahu. Honolulu’s urbanites flock to farmers’ markets in scores and often patronize weekday [...]
February 27 2013
February 27th, 2013Posted by Sunny Menozzi
In 1993, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) announced the closure of Naval Air Station Barbers Point, located on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Formally closed in 1999, Barbers Point became the Kalaeloa Community Development District. In 2002, the State Legislature appointed the Hawaiian Community Development Authority (HCDA), an agency that works to revitalize areas [...]
February 13 2013
February 13th, 2013Posted by Sunny Menozzi
The Oahu Urban Garden Center is a University of Hawaii at Manoa led initiative. A community resource, the OUGC invites aspiring green thumbs to participate in “Second Saturdays at the Garden,” a series of monthly classes that improve planters’ know-how. In addition, the OUGC offers expertise in soil analysis; this helps at-home gardeners identify nutrient [...]
January 30 2013
January 30th, 2013Posted by Renée van Staveren
A big Global Site Plans welcome to our newest blogger, Sunny Menozzi from her military service travels. Sunny Menozzi’s military duties have taken her to diverse and exciting places; from Singapore to Arizona, South Korea to Afghanistan, and North Carolina to Hawaii. Sunny’s travels inspired her interest in cities, especially how they function, the impact [...]
January 30 2013
January 30th, 2013Posted by Sunny Menozzi
Will a district characterized by its piers and warehouses become the vibrant “live-work-play urban neighborhood” imagined by the Hawaiian Community Development Authority? The HCDA selected Forest City Hawaii to design, develop, and manage 690 Pohukaina; a Hawaiian contemporary, mixed-use complex meant be the hallmark of the new Kaka’ako. Forest City Hawaii is a subsidiary of [...]
January 16 2013
January 16th, 2013Posted by Sunny Menozzi
Let’s begin with a bit of word association. When you hear “Honolulu,” you probably imagine palm trees gently swaying in the wind along sunny beaches abutting the clear, cool ocean. While Honolulu is renowned for its lovely beaches and, of course, the famed Mai Tai, it is also notorious for its traffic. Bleary-eyed commuters are often at [...]
