Published Books

Title:	Placemaking On A Budget
Subtitle:	Improving Small Towns, Neighborhoods, and Downtowns Without Spending A Lot Of Money
Author(s):	Susan Jackson Harden, RBF Consulting Al Zelinka
Year Published:	December, 2005
Publisher:	The American Planning Association www.planning.org

About the Book:
For more than five decades, the art of making places in our communities special and important to the people who live there has been tossed aside in favor of mass-produced, auto-dominated and "formula-style" Anywhere, USA development. As a country, we have been so focused on growing and building that engaging and involving community members in public and private projects also has been ill considered or deemed unnecessary. As a result, we are now faced with an expanse of communities that are not nurturing us * in many instances we have exchanged important pieces of our history, culture, and natural resources for cold and lifeless places with no heart or local identity.

Placemaking on a Budget is centered on two very important premises and written as an easy-to-use tool for people interested in adding meaning to their community's public spaces. The first premise is that through the public realm it is possible to enhance community identity and increase connections between people and between people and place. The second premise is that the old adage "time is money" also works in reverse * that the time invested in the careful identification of placemaking projects and the active involvement of people will result in money and other resources needed to bring ideas to life.

For the purposes of this publication, placemaking means: the process of adding value and meaning to the public realm through community-based revitalization projects rooted in local values, history, culture, and natural environment. "Placemaking" and "on a Budget" have been combined to not only articulate a process for redefining and rethinking about the places in which we live, but also for doing so in a way that is affordable and realistically attainable by communities with limited resources. Placemaking on a Budget: Improving Small Towns, Neighborhoods, and Downtowns Without Spending A Lot of Money is intended to provide planners, designers and citizens alike with a practical publication that can be readily used to realize placemaking efforts that make a difference in communities.

Title:	Building Workforce Housing in Orange County: A Resource Guide
Subtitle:	ULI Orange County Workforce Housing Task Force
Author(s):	Research and analysis: RBF Consulting’s Urban Design Studio Guide editor: Sheri Vander Dussen, Planning Director, City of Anaheim Report design: InterCommunicationsInc®
Year Published:	June 2009

About the Book:
By referring to "workforce housing" rather than "affordable housing," we emphasize two things. First, it is clear that we are seeking to provide homes for the people who work in Orange County/Inland Empire, but whose wages do not allow them to afford decent housing here. Second, the name emphasizes that the mismatch between wages and housing prices is of particular concern to employers, who find it harder to recruit and retain workers in this environment.

This resource guide focuses on tools that enable the construction of new workforce housing units. Related strategies include rehabilitation of existing units, direct assistance that helps families to buy or rent market-rate housing, and the preservation of affordable units beyond the initial subsidy or affordability requirement. Without planning for long-term affordability, we face an uphill battle in trying to expand the supply of housing.

Thank you to the folks at RBF Consulting's Urban Design Studio for their research and analysis in putting this guide together. Thank you to Sheri Vander Dussen, of the City of Anaheim, for spearheading this project. And, thank you to Toni Alexander and her team at InterCommunications for designing the lay-out for the guide.