Rick Cole Named Executive Director of Congress for the New Urbanism

Former Pasadena Mayor Rick Cole has been chosen as the next executive director of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), the organization announced on Tuesday.

Cole was recently named housing adviser to Mayor Victor Gordo.

CNU provides resources, education and technical assistance to create equitable, resilient places that people love. Its members include architects, urban designers, engineers, planners, developers, historic preservationists, small business people, health professionals, and government officials.  CNU will hold the 29th Congress virtually May 19-21.

Cole also served as city manager of Azusa, Ventura and, most recently, Santa Monica. 

As Deputy Mayor for Budget and Innovation for the city of Los Angeles, he oversaw a $5 billion budget and secured a $3.2 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to set up an “I-Team” to seek ways to maximize community reinvestment to benefit existing residents. 

“This role is the culmination of my life’s work devoted to creating cities that work for everyone,” Cole said in a prepared statement. 

“CNU rewrote the rules for urban planning and design in America. Now our challenge is to ensure that the benefits of people-centered design are widely shared in every city, town and suburb. Vibrant and prosperous places to live and work should be the birthright of every American,” Cole wrote.

“CNU is fighting to legalize walkable urbanism, support complete neighborhoods and design for climate change. We will take this urgent message to places that have too long been bypassed – whether inner city neighborhoods ravaged by institutional racism, rust belt towns abandoned by disinvestment or rural communities struggling with poverty,” he said.