About
Thanks for stopping by the CNU California website to learn a little more about our efforts. Below is a brief history of the Congress for the New Urbanism organization, our California Chapter and a overview of who we are in general. One thought we wanted to mention straight away is that, while we are professional planners, designers, urbanists, data scientists, futurists, public servants, community leaders + citizen-advocates: this website and our chapter efforts are all volunteer based.
National Movement.
Congress for the New Urbanism is a professional membership organization with more than 2,600 members working in communities across North America, in urban centers and in historic small towns, CNU connects and empowers the professionals, leaders, advocates, and citizens creating places people love.
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The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) helps create vibrant and walkable cities, towns, and neighborhoods where people have diverse choices for how they live, work, shop, and get around. People want to live in well-designed places that are unique and authentic. CNU’s mission is to help build those places.
With seventeen local and state chapters and offices in Chicago, IL and Washington, DC, CNU works to unite the New Urbanist movement. Our projects and campaigns serve to empower our members’ efforts, identify policy opportunities, spread great ideas and innovative work to a national audience, and catalyze new strategies for implementing policy through design approaches.
Founded in 1993, our movement is united around the belief hat our physical environment has a direct impact on our chances for happy, prosperous lives. New Urbanists believe that well-designed cities, towns, neighborhoods, and public places help create community: healthy places for people and businesses to thrive and prosper.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a large number of urban designers, architects, planners, developers, and engineers were frustrated with prevailing development patterns, which focused more on building dispersed housing far from traditional downtowns and Main Streets. Meanwhile, inside cities, urban renewal was destroying the fabric of historic neighborhoods and isolating once-stable communities.
As cities continued to decline, a coalition of urban designers, architects, planners, developers, and engineers coalesced to create New Urbanism—a movement for reinvestment in design, community, and place. Their values, and the core principles of their work, are articulated in the Charter of the New Urbanism opening Preamble:
“The Congress for the New Urbanism views the disinvestment in central cities, the spread of placeless sprawl, increasing separation by race and income, environmental deterioration, loss of agricultural lands and wilderness, and the erosion of society’s built heritage as one interrelated community-building challenge.”
What does CNU California do?
We serve as a state-level chapter for the national Congress for the New Urbanism organization. We engage in a range of activities to promote New Urbanist principles and sustainable, community-oriented urban planning and development within California.
The best way to connect with California’s New Urbanists is to join the conversation and attend one of our Board of Director meetings.
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Our passion is working with local jurisdictions to conceptualize and plan for new urbanist development. We meet with community leaders, residents and business owners to ensure a Place Based Approach is taken to
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Our chapter strives to find opportunities to discuss how New Urbanism intersects with proposed state policy.
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We appreciate opportunities to tour opportunity sites and CNU inspired places.
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During our monthly Board meetings, we share local, regional and statewide events that inspire
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We meet as a California Chapter during the National CNU conference every year.
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We are proud to support the Petaluma Urban Chat’s 2023 Film Festival. More information about the Film Festival can be found here: https://www.urbanchat.org/film-festival
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Our membership mixers are regional opportunities to meet fellow New Urbanists
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CNU California is a non-profit 501(c) 3 volunteer professional organization. The Mission of the Congress for the New Urbanism California Chapter is, “to advance the making of great places that are walkable, sustainable, and enjoyable.” Our diverse membership are experts in architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, historic preservation, engineering, and strategy who volunteer their time, expertise, and professional capacity to our annual ‘By-Design
Charrette’ program. Our goals are:
1. To help maintain sustainable cities that minimize the loss of agricultural and natural areas, by offering formal and informal educational opportunities for California residents, civic leaders, and businesses.
2. To educate California residents on how to grow responsibly and to maintain sustainable cities that minimize the loss of agricultural and natural areas.
3. To encourage the adoption of principles and practices of the New Urbanism throughout California.
4. To support the restoration of existing urban centers and towns, the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the conservation of natural areas, and the preservation of our built legacy.
5. To create opportunities for citizens, and practitioners in private and public service.
6. To learn, exchange and apply knowledge of the principles and practices of the New Urbanism.
7. To provide a California presence, focus and perspective for the Congress for the New Urbanism national organization.
There are many different ways to become involved in the Congress for New Urbanism California Chapter.
We want all residents of California to join our efforts!
We would love to chat with you about how together we can transform growth patterns from the inside out and make it easier for people to live healthy lives. It’s FREE to join the conversation on how the principals of New Urbanism can help create people centered places where you live, work and play. Contact our Board of Directors!
Creating a proactive, multi-disciplinary approach to restoring our communities
The Congress for New Urbanism is a membership based organization. Membership dues are how we fund our research, collative efforts and this website. Members are the life of the organization – we are the planners, developers, architects, engineers, public officials, investors and community activists. We encourage all residents to consider becoming members of the Congress for New Urbanism.
CNU California is a non-profit 501(c) 3 volunteer professional organization. Any donations or sponsorships of CNU California events are tax deductible. Please consider making a one-time donation today!
Contact our Board of Directors to introduce yourself and join the conversation
Find a fellow new urbanist.
The movement for vibrant, walkable urbanism is only as strong as our connections to one another. Access the CNU membership directory using the button below to connect with other urbanists in California as well as nationwide