The 1989 winners offer stories about stories about places and policy, tales about government and communities.
Breakthroughs: the 1989 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence includes detailed case studies and lessons learned about the winning projects including:
- Tenant Interim Lease Program in New York City, New York
An innovative grassroots initiative that helps renters gain cooperative home ownership
- Portland Downtown Plan in Portland, Oregon
A collective, citizen-driven revitalization plan that created a vibrant downtown center
- Southwest Corridor Project in Boston, Massachusetts
Public transit expansion and new greenway connecting neighborhoods with downtown
- Radial Reuse Project in Lincoln, Nebraska
A linear park system connecting and revitalizing neighborhoods
- Cabrillo Village in Santicoy, California
A sustainable, affordable, worker-owned housing cooperative
- Stowe Recreation Path in Stowe, Vermont
The grassroots creation of a five-mile recreational community greenway
Lessons Learned themes include:
- The critical shortcomings of traditional government
- The power of decentralization
- A new role for government
- The unsung role and power of the invisible bureaucrats
- The beauty of citizen participation and inclusion
- Human empowerment is both a vehicle and a goal
- Individual people with ideas and visions are indispensable—but not always enough
- Design is not the only thing, but can be everything (or how, for lack of a screw the war was lost)