by John W. Olson | Nov 27, 2021 | Comprehensive Planning and Codes, Streetscapes, Town Planning, Urban Renewal
In 2015, I was approached by former Mayor (2017-2019) of Manitou Springs, Ken Jaray, on behalf of the Friends of Ruxton Canyon to study Ruxton Avenue. The task of the Friends Group was to gather data about how Ruxton Avenue corridor was used by pedestrians, cyclists...
by John W. Olson | Nov 20, 2021 | Comprehensive Planning and Codes, Streetscapes, Urban Planning and Design, Urban Renewal, Urbanism
Old Colorado CIty (OCC) boasts wonderful brick buildings along Colorado Avenue and has the City’s highest concentration of Victorian Homes. It is a neighborhood in Colorado Springs rich with history. “Colorado City,” as it was once known, actually...
by John W. Olson | May 16, 2020 | Comprehensive Planning and Codes, Town Planning, Urban Planning and Design, Urban Renewal, Urbanism
The suburbs are mistakenly having a moment as cities have become the patsy for the COVID-19 pandemic. Lazy, surface level views of the pandemic have duped cities as the enemy while some are even making major life changes as a result. Yes, cities represent areas of...
by John W. Olson | Jul 4, 2013 | Comprehensive Planning and Codes, Urban Planning and Design, Urban Renewal, Urbanism
The question for cities is often: What is the silver bullet for the revitalization of a Downtown? There are always answers, but often, they are misguided and wrong. There is not one single universal answer. As a matter of fact, the idea of a silver bullet is pure...
by John W. Olson | Jan 27, 2013 | Comprehensive Planning and Codes, Urban Planning and Design, Urban Renewal
The question came up over the weekend regarding retrofitting suburbia, due to the anticipated arrival of speaker, author and urbanist, Ellen Dunham Jones. My friend and colleague asked where in Colorado Springs would be the places that Ellen describes in her TED Talk....
by John W. Olson | May 3, 2012 | Comprehensive Planning and Codes, Town Planning, Urban Renewal, Urbanism
Retrofitting Suburbia is an interesting discussion that has been widely discussed in the architecture and planning groups for the past decade. This has been the era that we have been able to see, too often, the failures of our development patterns since World War II....
