iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Mixed-use neighborhoods are an economic cheat code. Build more of them.

Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Urbanism has a marketing problem. The ideas are right. The cities are worth saving. But we’re still losing the narrative. It’s time for a better strategy. This morning at Market Street I wrote about the Software & Hardware Framework: mktstreet.substack.com/p/the-softwa...

mktstreet.substack.com

The Software & Hardware Framework for Marketing Urbanism

The six things urbanism must do to both grow its reach and rekindle America’s love for cities.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Too many cities are building for tourists and big external investments instead of the people who actually live there. But building with a residents-first mindset isn’t just a sappy feel-goodism. It’s tactically savvy: mktstreet.substack.com/p/with-the-r...

mktstreet.substack.com

With the Right Target Audience, a City Sells Itself

Tourists, sports leagues, and splashy headlines won’t build your city. Residents will.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Cities are supposed to be where you go to chase your dreams. But if you dream of solving housing, they’re often where ambition goes to die. The barriers are just too high. Making housing allowed has somehow become a bigger challenge than building it. It shouldn’t be this way.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

As we roll into 2025, bird flu (H5N1) continues to lurk in the background and norovirus outbreaks are surging. Both stand as reminders that cities should be preparing for future public health events.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

Incoming president Donald Trump has pledged that tackling the urban migrant crisis through mass deportations will be a key part of his agenda in his second term. I wrote about this and a few other trends that I believe will shape cities this year: urbaneer.kit.com/posts/three-...

urbaneer.kit.com

Three Trends That Will Shape Cities in 2025

Here are three trends that will shape cities in 2025.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

This week's Urbaneer Friday Five: - Kei Trucks: - Sidewalk Clearing Pilot Programs - Office-to-Housing Conversions And more! Check it out and join 700+ subscribers getting the latest trends and news in urbanism every week ⤵️ urbaneer.kit.com/posts/friday...

urbaneer.kit.com

Friday Five: Tiny Trucks, Snowy Sidewalks, and Building Conversions

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Each of these pictures was made possible by city builders: Developers. Engineers. Planners. Entrepreneurs. Marketers. Accountants. Architects. Electricians. Politicians. The ways to make an impact on your city through your career are endless. We need more city builders.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

According to a survey from MissionSquare, over half of US cities are facing waves of retirement. For Gen Z, local government will be one of the hottest industries for job opportunities with purpose and a proactive focus on attractive benefits. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

bloomberg.com

City Hall Is Hiring

As President-elect Trump targets federal jobs, local governments still recovering from Covid-era staffing hits are facing their own workforce challenges.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

I’m not an “obsess about birth rates” guy. But I do think one byproduct of people having fewer kids is the way NIMBYism prominent on both the left and the right. You can’t sell “we’re building more homes so you’re kids can afford to live here too” when those kids don’t exist.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Cars are one of the leading causes of death in America. The next four years only stand to make them more dangerous. Local leaders now bear the sole responsibility of building places that constrain the threat of vehicles as much as possible. Federal laws and resources aren’t coming to save you.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

The most American thing ever is being willing to die for our preferences. The same people that fear monger about cities are the ones that cling to cars like life depends on them. We're willing to die for the habits that are killing us. A culture of death if there ever was one.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

I won't pretend to be an expert on the threat level bird flu poses. But as another respiratory virus hits the news, it's a reminder that great urban design is also a hedge for pandemic resiliency. Tree canopies and outdoor dining spaces are two great, cost-efficient ways to pandemic-proof a city.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Anduril raised $1.5B to build a modular factory that will hyperscale American defense manufacturing. There's real buzz, energy, and resources out there looking to support American ambition. Who's building the Anduril of housing production? Of infrastructure? Of mass transit?

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

In this week's Urbaneer Friday Five, we looked at a potential highway conversion in Milwaukee, Notre Dame's reopening, and record usage of Amtrak and bike shares: urbaneer.kit.com/posts/friday...

urbaneer.kit.com

Friday Five: Highway Conversions, Transit Records and Grand Reopenings

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

"Children are a kind of indicator species. If we can build a successful city for children, we will have a successful city for all people." - Enrique Penalosa

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

When people think tech they think San Francisco. But Silicon Valley is actually incredibly suburban. I can’t help but think that shapes our tech and our culture in ways we don’t fully understand.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

NYC is leveraging a coastal climate resilience technology called Living Breakwaters that emerged from HUD's 2014 Rebuild By Design competition. The best way to find great ideas is to dare people to come up with them. Less commissioned studies, more competitions. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

bloomberg.com

New York City’s ‘Living Breakwaters’ Brace for Stormier Seas

Landscape architect Kate Orff’s unique shoreline protection device off Staten Island is designed to both prevent flooding and provide a new reef habitat.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

When done right, stadiums can be a part of great urban neighborhoods. (📸Wrigley Field - Chicago, IL)

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

One reason cities are so unfriendly to children is their leaders see children as a problem. Not everyone needs to have children. And not everyone can. But cities that are child-friendly are more friendly for everyone. The opposite is not true. Build child-friendly cities.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Legalize cool buildings on weird lots.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

The most respected member of the President’s cabinet is a former mayor. The most promising politicians on both sides of the aisle are consistently mayors. Rebuilding America’s political ecosystem runs through cities.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

We dedicate most of our built environment to roads. We build to go, not to stay. Then we wonder why people are so hopeless and restless. It’s because we built a world that always says you’re not where you’re supposed to be.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

The next generation of great urban designers are currently killing it on Minecraft. (Images via d3_cent on Reddit)

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Young people are searching for purpose and meaningful work. Cities are desperate for investment, attention, and care. A perfect storm is brewing for an impact generation.

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Michael Natelli @michaelnatelli.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Cities always become the best versions of themselves during Christmas time. Beautiful lights on street lamps. Open pedestrian streets. Markets. Music all around. We get a taste of what cities should always be. If we legalize great spaces, we can make every day like Christmas.

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