A framework for connected, vibrant, and inclusive places.

It’s unsettling to think that wealth concentrates. The hot place to live today is overlooked by the newer and better neighborhood of tomorrow. This pattern of rising and fall made me curious enough to enter into the urban planning profession.

Place development in itself is not the antidote to wealth concentration. However, when applied, it is likely to allow you to avoid becoming a commodity trap and the inevitable decline that is coming your way.

With 60% of Americans left behind, we must choose a framework that grows the middle class rather than only support the 40% who are thriving. Place development creates the conditions for innovation. It’s the innovation that produces wealth that leads to a prosperous economy. Usually, this leads to a healthy middle that avoids the extremity of concentrated poverty and wealth.

Wealth can flow to everyone but will always seek to rush back to owners.

People are innovators. The networking of people, assets, and resources is what allows for the innovation ecosystem to thrive. And for a while, it can be the antidote to stagnation, decline, and entrenched poverty. It is why innovation is so important for places to thrive.

Prosperity is more likely to occur when place development frameworks and innovation ecosystems are cultivated and nurtured continuously. Where innovation occurs, there is a greater chance your community will remain connected, vibrant, and inclusive.