Winter construction on the National Mall, Washington, DC, symbolic of the potential to build new things starting this month.

January is a great time for you to have some exploratory conversations about starting something new in your community. In order of complexity, you might become the spark plug for:

a block club,

a neighborhood association,

a community development corporation,

a community anti-drug coalition, or

a community action agency, if you live in a fairly remote area that does not have one.

On January 2, we published our 750th page on the website. Yay! Use the sitemap and the lists that are linked from the yellow box on that page to help you find something relevant to your community work.

Specifically, since the last newsletter, we added a page on the so-called "smart city" concept. In simplest terms, smart city simply means one employing technology to connect systems of data virtually. If you've heard the term, please check out the article.

We also rewrote the mixed-use development page. We also answered 11 questions from website visitors.

Ideal vision of rural development Hint: we said there was no such thing.

What is a capital improvements plan?

Should downtown real estate be used for a city-owned recreational facility?

What is a "digital twin" in city planning?

Persuading a city to care about a vacant multi-family building

What are the rules for an eviction?

What is a polycentric region?

Condo complex in a PUD zone

Changing the CCR document in a non-HOA neighborhood

Proposed new regulations contradict covenants

Can you add a deed restriction on a single lot in a subdivision that is covered by covenants already?. We answered that one because it is likely to become a more common issue in the years ahead as the percentage of people living in a deed restricted community continues to rise.

Oops, we intended to present a classic top 10 list of the most visited pages on our website during 2021. But as luck would have it, numbers 10 and 11 were so close together, we give you our 11 most popular, starting with number one. Enjoy.

Community Development Ideas

Community Planning Process

How to Oppose a Rezoning

How far can the city go in forcing citizens to obey codes? (Ouch, it's hard to see that visitor question as one of our top pulls, but apparently it is.)

The very practical page we wrote long ago about how to start a petition

Code Enforcement

Community Beautification

Church Zoning

How to Start a Community Development Corporation

Cleaning Up Your Neighborhood Park

Urban Design Principles