Two keynote speakers at the upcoming CNU 26.Savannah will examine the power of urbanism in a small-town context, a major theme throughout the gathering.
Kennedy Smith is founder and principal of Community Land Use + Economics Group, LLC. As one of the nation’s foremost experts on economic development planning for traditional commercial districts, Smith focuses her work on crafting forward-looking, innovative economic development strategies, then turning them into practical implementation plans. She has won numerous accolades for her work, including being one of Planetizen's "Most Influential Urbanists of All Time" (and one of "100 Top Urban Thinkers" named by Planetizen in 2009). Fast Company magazine named her to its first “Fast 50 Champions of Innovation”, recognizing “creative thinkers whose sense of style and power of persuasion change what our world looks like and how our products perform.” She was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University in 2005-2006. Her work has been featured in news media ranging from Business Week and The New York Times to “CBS Sunday Morning” and “The Donohue Show”. She also teaches and writes about the connection between historic preservation and economic redevelopment.
Singer-songwriter Dar Williams is the author of What I Found in a Thousand Towns: A Traveling Musician’s Guide to Rebuilding America's Communities — One Coffee Shop, Dog Run, & Open-Mike Night at a Time. Williams brings her incisive writing and open eyes to the stakes, opportunities, and challenges for small towns seeking to preserve and improve their sense of community. Called “one of America’s very best singer-songwriters” by the New Yorker, Williams will give a talk that combines story and song in investigating what can help small towns thrive as great places to live.
Public square in Dahlonega, Georgia. Photo by GWRIngle
The CNU26.Savannah program will be more hands-on—and feet-down—than ever before, with dozens of tours and workshops, including half-day tours of small cities and towns near Savannah, including Brunswick and key locations in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. For more information, visit www.cnu.org/cnu26
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