Community / Economic Development

How To Encourage Brownfield Redevelopment

9 May 2008 - 8:00am

Builders and planners are gathering in Detroit to discuss funding options for brownfield redevelopment and learn from region's experience transforming these community eyesores.

A Silver Lining To The Foreclosure Crisis: More Affordable Housing

8 May 2008 - 9:00am
Washington Post

The Federal Reserve has announced plans to help community non-profits to acquire foreclosed homes for use as affordable housing.

Is 'Sex And The City' To Blame For New York's Gentrification?

8 May 2008 - 8:00am
New York Daily News

With its portrait of glamorous living in Manhattan, some New Yorkers can't help but blame the television series for fueling the city's gentrification. Even the show's star, Sarah Jessica Parker, laments Manhattan's loss of 'grit'.

Cultural District Planned For Downtown Salt Lake City

7 May 2008 - 4:01pm
Deseret News

Plans for a Broadway-style theater and "cultural district" in downtown Salt Lake City moves forward.

Will Planners Save the Country's Overlooked Masses?

6 May 2008 - 2:00pm
The Denver Post

From unemployment to rising rents to widespread foreclosures, many major problems face Americans. In his latest column, Neal Peirce argues that planners are the ones who can formulate a broad solution.

A Sustainable City Rises From the Rubble

6 May 2008 - 6:00am
NPR

A year after a tornado destroyed the city of Greensburg, Kansas, the city and its residents are bounding back in an economically and environmentally sustainable way.

8 Years And $45 Million Later, Still Nothing

4 May 2008 - 1:00pm
Los Angeles Times

Efforts to redevelop a blighted commercial plaza in South Los Angeles have proved fruitless -- angering residents who say the city has ignored them and allowed taxpayer money to be wasted. Questions remain about the developer's financial dealings.

Green Affordable Housing Complex Opens In Harlem

3 May 2008 - 7:00am
Inhabitat

A new 85-unit apartment building in Harlem shows that affordable housing and green building practices can go hand in hand.

The Economic Development Potential Of The Local Watering Hole

2 May 2008 - 1:00pm
Philadelphia Daily News

A newspaper beer columnist writes that a good local bar is not just a place for drinks and socializing, it can attract business too.

A Neighborhood Revitalized By Books

2 May 2008 - 11:00am
The New York Times

A stretch of warehouses, parking lots, and rundown buildings in Minneapolis -- once envision as technology corridor -- has been instead been transformed into a thriving literary arts community, complete with new businesses and residences.

City Explores Ways To Provide Access To Healthy Food

1 May 2008 - 12:00pm
Seattle Post Intelligencer

Seattle's new local food initiative will try to help provide access to health, fresh food in neighborhoods that are a long walk or bus ride from a supermarket.

Homeowners Resist Plan To Scale Down City

1 May 2008 - 8:00am
CNN Money

Officials in Youngstown, Ohio, hope to save money and strengthen their community by vacating sparsely populated neighborhoods, but homeowners in the targeted areas are reluctant to leave -- even with the city's $50,000 incentives.

Questioning The Value Of Stadium Subsidies

30 April 2008 - 2:00pm
The American

Taxpayers typically contribute more than 50 percent of the cost of a new stadium or arena these days, but what are they getting for their money?

Economic Woes May Cut Down Sprawl

30 April 2008 - 10:00am
Marketplace

The downturn in the economy could bring about major changes to the pattern of suburban sprawl development.

The Case for Density in Sustainable Cities

28 April 2008 - 2:36pm

One of the many signs that green development and design is reaching a tipping point toward becoming business-as-usual, is the quantity of articles and writings on the subject in what might be considered "mainstream" land development publications. Case-in-point is the current Issue of Urban Land, the Green issue. This attention is a good thing, despite the growing need to ensure that developments that play the green card, truly do walk the talk. 

New Urban Developers Surviving The Current Economic Storm

28 April 2008 - 12:00pm
New Urban News

As the housing industry flounders, New Urbanist developers are using the flexibility inherent in their community plans to their advantage.

Can The Earth Provide Enough Food For 9 Billion People?

28 April 2008 - 7:00am
The Christian Science Monitor

That's how many are expected to inhabit the world by 2050. Experts worry over looming food shortages.

A Reminder to the City: Neighborhoods Are Building Blocks of Civic Life

28 April 2008 - 5:00am

Neighborhoods -- their habits, their participants, and their values -- are what create and define value in a city and in a home. Cities need to embrace this fact if they want to preserve values and retain residents.

City of Portland Maine Cuts Urban Design and Historic Preservation Staff

28 April 2008 - 1:26am
Portland Press Herald

The City Manager of Portland, Maine terminates 98 positions, including the Urban Designer and Historic Preservation staff, eliminates the Parks Department, and moves the Economic Development department in to the Administrative office.

Canada's 'Food Deserts'

27 April 2008 - 11:00am
Windsor Star

A new study shows that supermarkets have migrated away from Canada's central and poorer neighborhoods, turning them into 'food deserts' with minimal access to more expensive food.