Neighborhood Evolution

28/02/2026

Thankful for jonjon.jpeg ! Small is worthy!

26/02/2026

So much truth in one post from The Happy Urbanist!

A lesson of ants and hermit crabs.

26/02/2026

Scenes from our trip to Hutchinson, Kansas!

Grain elevators and prairie dogs. A warm community with beautiful historic buildings. A City and Community leaders that really want to get things done. What a combo!

We can’t wait to see what happens as we dive deeper into work here. More soon! We have a lot of homework - building code review and a website to build with resources, a 12 steps to town making kick off to organize, some building owners who need help… it’s gonna be fun!

Thank you to the Hutchinson Community Foundation for providing the support to make this happen and the City for prioritizing this! 💙💛

17/02/2026

End of March! Join us! Want to see pre approved plans happening in real time? Maybe you work within city hall and you want to hear about productive programs to encourage local small scale development? Or maybe you want to hear how a local CDFI helped with the appraisal gap issues so banks would lend - even with the gap? South Bend leads the way. Come see it!

How does South Bend lead the nation? Tour renovation & infill "pre approved plans" projects, meet local leaders, and see it for yourself.

12/02/2026

Woooo! Yayyyy! Lots of work done and plenty more to do.

11/02/2026

Mike Keen - a local small scale “accidental” developer in South Bend, Indiana! Story by Jon Jon, The Happy Urbanist.

11/02/2026

Is your community struggling with housing and you desperately need local people doing local development? Come visit South Bend with us and see what locals can do when they get the support they need.

Join Neighborhood Evolution for an immersive field experience in South Bend, Indiana—home to one of the most dynamic small-scale development ecosystems in the country.

23/01/2026

“This burst of enthusiasm signals a new interest in cities, and, more critically, a new willingness to align policy, technology, capital, and design around a shared question: what should we be building—and why?”

Courtyard Urbanism, Buildings Without Worth, and a New Ecology of Building

15/12/2025

Our ongoing work in Elkhart!

If you have a vacant or declining mall, reach out.

ELKHART, IN - WOODLAND CROSSING Suburban Retro-fit and Mixed-Use Revitalization of a Vacant Shopping MallIn January 2024, the City of Elkhart acquired a failing, largely-vacant shopping mall. At the center of a residential neighborhood and on the edge of a commercial corridor, this mall is a prime o...