Notes On: A Pratt Center Blog

The task of community-based planning begins with the belief that everyday people are experts in noting what works and what doesn’t in their own neighborhood. For more than half a century, Pratt Center has gathered and cherished these notes that inform our work to promote transformative urban change across New York City. And, of course, we’ve been taking note too. 

Notes On… is a blog of urban commentary by the Pratt Center for Community Development. Here, we share the notes—insights, observations, thoughts, and musings—that couldn’t hold space in the sometimes rigid genres of urban plans, policy briefs, and research memos. And like most good note taking, we keep it short. These pieces seek to demystify our complex, built environment, magnify the often forgotten, and beautify the task we call community-based planning.