What makes visiting Main Street really great is going with friends and finding some great dining in local bistros. So I'm organizing a course through the University of Orange. I'll post the cities and the meet-up spots for all the cities I'm visiting. People interested in joining me can meet me there. We'll look around, take photos, talk to the locals and have a great lunch. The University of Orange, a free people's university, requires that you learn something in order to get your degree in freedom. So take my course -- it's going to be great!
Some years ago Main Street was declared dead, but those doomsayers need to visit New Jersey. From north to south, in all the 21 counties, Main Street is flourishing. I've visited Main Streets in 178 cities, in 14 countries, and counting. What I learned is that WE and Main Street are intertwined and interdependent. Our lives are linked in an infinite number of ways.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
University Course on "MainStreetNJ"
Fall is in the air, and it's time to get back to Main Street! I had a great summer, visiting some wonderful places. I got to work with some of the greatest names in French city design this summer. I spent 3 weeks working on "Le Grand Paris" -- the Great Paris -- a project started by French President Nicholas Sarkozy to envision the future of Paris. For my part, I toured the cities around Paris and took hundreds of photos for a report I submitted to Michel Cantal-Dupart. Since getting back to the US, I've been to Los Angeles, Ludlow, VT, and Chicago. This weekend I'm off to Pittsburgh for the a conference on city parks. But Main Street is calling and I'm ready to get back to my appointed rounds, visiting 105 New Jersey Main Streets.