Author Archives: Ilana Preuss

I recently had the privilege to share my passion for great places at The George Washington University’s TEDxGWU event.

My talk centered on the importance of understanding that great places are not only core to our communities but that making more great places is key to turning around our economy.

Advocates for smart growth tend to talk a lot about urban planning, street design, and a whole host of technical information related to building towns and cities. But many of the people whose opinions matter most in local decisions don’t think about their communities this way, and this is something we all need to learn from.

Smart growth strategies create interesting, exciting places to live and work, and the people who live in those places benefit most from this. At this year’s Rail~volution conference, which concluded earlier this week in Washington, DC, I heard dozens of people tell stories of the town or neighborhood they love and how smart growth strategies have helped make it even better.