Street Design Talks

“John Massengale was the keynote speaker [at the Livable Cities Conference] and he rocked Portland. Great presentation and book. My students loved his talk as well. John, we are going to try to get you out to Louisville!”

John Gilderbloom, Director, Center for Sustainable Neighborhoods, University of Louisville

“I’m so glad Vince tipped me off to this superb presentation. Its virtues are too many to list, but I particularly want to note its demonstration of the value of history in helping planners, policy makers, and citizens to escape mental models unconsciously inherited from a history they either don’t know, or know only in a version influenced by those who told it in a way that suited their interests, and thereby removed from consideration worthy alternatives. The statement of the Vision Zero Initiative that’s quoted at the beginning of the talk revives an alternative path to safe city streets that (a) relegitimizes the pedestrian’s perspective that motordom successfully marginalized in the 1920s, and (b) reflects the prevailing conventional wisdom of the 1910s and 1920s about how city streets could be safe places for people.”

Peter Norton, author of Fighting Traffic

“John Massengale gave a great talk on Street Design, illustrated with fascinating images. The talk was lucid, often funny, and totally persuasive. He has a story to tell, and he tells it well. Nobody wanted to leave the reception afterward as the attendees had the chance to line up and ask questions. John’s talk got enough of our board engaged that a large crowd went to dinner with him afterward and kept him talking well into the night. They are still talking, which I see as the beginning of something in Tribeca to transform our humdrum streets.”

Lynn Ellsworth, Chair, TriBeCa Trust

“John’s talk to the transportation engineers and landscape architects at UConn was amazing.”

Norman Garrick, University of Connecticut Professor of Engineering

“John Massengale’s valuable design vision is built on his vast knowledge of cities throughout the world. His presentations are truly enlightening.”

John Norquist, former Mayor of Milwaukee— John Norquist, former Mayor of Milwaukee

“John Massengale’s two days with the Community Institute in Belfast expanded our thinking about the downtown streets in Midcoast Maine. His prepared talk was eye-opening and funny, while in his walks around Belfast itself he was insightful, diplomatic, positive, and, most of all, enlightening. We want to get him back!”

Jane Lafleur, Executive Director, Friends of Midcoast Maine and The Community Institute.

“Thank you so much for a great presentation in Boston. I bought the book and really love it. I can’t wait to share it with some of my planner friends.”

Judy L. Hayward, Education Director, Traditional Building Conference

Overheard in Arkansas, by Victor Dover: “Todd Ferguson reports that John Massengale’s talk on Street Design at the Traditional Building Conference in Boston was the highlight of the event.”