The August Boot Camp is full and we are closing the Registration. Monte Anderson has a great venue for us in the heart of Duncanville's Main Street, but we are limited to 100 people. Folks who have registered will be receiving advance materials via email (homework). We will post that material on the CNU Incremental Development Resources webpage so others can get get a flavor of things as we head into the first of what looks like 6 Boot Camps this year. Many thanks to the local crew of Wana Smith, Cindy Copeland, Donna Harris, Daniel Flores, and Monte Anderson for pulling the logistics of the Duncanville effort together, and to Chuck Marohn and Jim Kumon at Strong Towns.org.
Blog: Plain Talk
Plain talk on building and development.
I got a phone call today from Eric Brown, a colleague in Savannah. Eric is a long time CNU member and member of the New Urban Guild. He said he would really try to make it to the Small Developer Boot Camp in Duncanville in August, Atlanta in October for sure. He told me about the "missing tooth" sites he sees everyday in Savannah, the spots that just need one or two straightforward buildings to transform the block. Eric has designed a lot of those "workhorse buildings" over the years. I'm a big fan of his work as an Architect.
He said that he wants to start putting some of those buildings out as open source building types, similar to what David Kim and I have been doing with the 4F and the Single Stair Walk-up. Eric recognizes that there is a big demand for incremental development if folks can work out the business model that lets them make a living working at a smaller, more local scale and he is stepping up to help them figure it out.
A bright spot in what had been a tough day. So here's to Eric Brown, a real stand up guy. If you see him at the Dallas or Atlanta Boot Camps, please buy him a beer.
The Small Developer/Builders Group on Facebook now has over 600 members. Small Developer/Builders Group
Some members are curious lurkers, some are practicing developers, and many are on the fence trying to figure out what it would take to make the move from their current day job into developing small scale, incremental projects. We have seen several clusters of folks connect through the group and decide to meet up in person. It's been quite marvelous to watch the group grow in number and see the discussion move past daily posts of whatever is on my mind that I think might be useful. Click the link above and ask to be added to the group if this sounds like something you want to explore.
The August Small Developer Bootcamp in Duncanville has been capped at 75 participants. There were 56 people registered as of lunch time Friday. So just 19 spots are left. If you were intending to join us in Duncanville, now is the time to go over to the registration page and sign up. It looks like the event will fill up at the early bird registration price of $100.