CNUdc Interview Series: Elinor Bacon
In 2012 Catherine Vanderwaart interned with CNUdc, and she interviewed several of our active members. Read about the great work they do and their thoughts about DC.
How did you get involved in new urbanism?
I was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the HUD Office of Public Housing Investments during the last four years of the Clinton Administration, where I led HOPE VI and other Public Housing Capital Programs. New Urbanism redevelopment planning was a fundamental tenet of HOPE VI, and we brought in CNU leaders to play a central design/planning role in helping to shape the program. CNU leaders led the design discussions at our many national conferences, and played a key role in HOPE VI, in many ways. Ray Gindroz, for example, developed accessibility guidelines for the program which resulted in a booklet that was widely distributed. HUD partnered with CNU, AIA, and the Seaside Institute in convening a groundbreaking forum on mixed-income, mixed-use development, held at Seaside.
