CNU Utah

04/07/2026

04/07/2026

04/07/2026

Now is the time to register for CNU 34 which is being held in NW Arkansas this year. Anyone that has attended a CNU Congress understands the benefits. Anyone who hasn't attended a CNU Congress should consider this one. A link to the Congress schedule is below:
https://www.cnu.org/sites/default/files/CNU%2034%20Visual%20Schedule%20%281%29.pdf

Living up to its name, CNU34 will take place in multiple locations across the two largest cities in the NWA region: Bentonville and Fayetteville. You can learn more about the vibe of each place by reading the Public Square articles linked. Below is an updated At A Glance schedule and details about h...

01/30/2026

If you’re looking for evidence that neighborhood design is opportunity policy, this is worth your time.

The recent CNU piece on HOPE VI highlights research showing that mixed-income, New Urbanist-inflected revitalization didn’t just change buildings—it changed life outcomes. The finding is hard to ignore: children who grew up in revitalized HOPE VI neighborhoods saw meaningful long-run earnings gains, with each year of childhood exposure associated with higher adult earnings—and those exposed from birth seeing dramatically larger lifetime impacts.

What can be appreciated most is the mechanism the article emphasizes: connection. The strongest gains were linked to stronger social ties and interaction with higher-income neighbors, suggesting that reducing isolation—turning “islands of disadvantage” into real neighborhoods—matters as much as (or more than) any single program element.

It’s also a reminder that the ROI of good urbanism can be generational. The long-run benefits to kids can outperform the public cost of revitalization by a wide margin.

If we’re serious about economic mobility, we should be equally serious about the fundamentals HOPE VI leaned on: walkable blocks, legible public space, dignified housing that fits the surrounding fabric, and mixed-income patterns that create real proximity to opportunity.

Highly recommend reading and sharing.

A remarkable new Harvard study shows the benefits of mixed-income housing in high-poverty areas, using design based on New Urbanist principles.

12/31/2025

Please join the Congress for the New Urbanism Utah and Urban Design Utah for film screenings from the Better Cities Film Festival. Along with short films about street design, architecture, public transportation, and community building, we will be featuring "Pushing Zero", a 30-minute documentary about Salt Lake City-based developer Giv Group's affordable housing developments which have set the new standard for sustainable building design in our region.

This event is free and open to the public, although we encourage registration and a $5 donation or CNU Utah membership to ensure we can continue organizing fun and interesting events.

Registration: https://bit.ly/44uFoHs

Donation: https://www.cnuutah.org/donate

Membership: https://www.cnu.org/join