Community / Economic Development
Sculptures Rise in Iowa, Distract From City's Woes
A Des Moines venture capitalist and his wife have donated a reported $40 million worth of large public sculptures for a sculpture park, part of a significant redevelopment effort by the city.
The New York Times
Gropius Buildings Slated for Demolition
The Friend Convalescent Hospital was the first of Walter Gropius' modernist buildings to be destroyed at Chicago's Michael Reese hospital. Bulldozing began on Wednesday with more still to go.
The Chicago Tribune
German Solar Coming to Denver
SMA Solar Technology AG, the German company responsible for about 40 percent of the world's solar market will be opening a plant in Denver.
The Denver Post
Hurry Up and Wait
NYC's Mayor Bloomberg oversaw the rezoning of thousands of blocks, yet many of the development projects he envisioned as the key to the city's future success are now stalled or in jeopardy.
The New York Times
Booze and God Surviving Slump in Florida
Liquor stores and religious uses are the only building markets staying afloat in Florida, say experts.
New Geography
Oakland A Food Hub Once Again
Affordable space, city incentives, and good transport are bringing Oakland, CA back to its roots as a center of the food processing industry.
San Francisco Chronicle
The Tunnel Economy of Gaza
With closed borders and a military lockdown on all imports and exports, the Palestinians of Gaza rely on a network of smuggling tunnels to obtain goods.
Time
China's Rail Revolution
Extensive investments in rail are slashing travel times in China, and creating a vastly more connected and accessible country.
Newsweek
Coalition Promises $4 Billion to Green Affordable Housing
A collection of non-profits working with HUD is promising to spend $4 billion on updating affordable housing across the country to be more sustainable.
Grist
Jane Jacobs, Economic Guru?
Jacobs' ideas about urban planning bumped her to the top of her Top Urban Thinkers list, but economists are turning to her other books to rethink local economies.
Miller-McCune
What Does Main Street Look Like?
What does Main Street America look like today? A journalist, a public radio producer, and two Harvard PhD students set out to visit actual Main Streets across the country to find out.
WorldChanging
Residential Construction Declines Sharply in New York City
2009 is expected to turn out as a bad year for residential constructoin in New York City. After five consecutive years with more than 30,000 units constructed, at total of 6,300 are expected this year.
The New York Times
The Barcelona Model of Reviving Industrial Areas
American cities are struggling to figure out how to transition formerly industrial areas to become vibrant and successful parts of the city once again. Neal Peirce says they should look to Barcelona, which accomplished it ten years ago.
Citiwire
Las Vegas: A Model of America's Problems
The problems facing urban America can be exemplified by looking at the city of Las Vegas, according to this piece from the Brookings Institution's Mark Muro.
Citiwire
Redeveloping Brooklyn's Waterfront Wasteland?
Developers and NYC's Mayor Bloomberg have hit a speed bump in revitalizing the Gowanus Canal. It may be designated as a Superfund site.
The New York Times
'Local' is the New 'Green'
Global corporations like Frito Lay and Barnes and Noble are attempting to co-opt the word 'local' into their branding.
Utne Reader
A Call for More Docks on the Hudson
Cities along the Hudson River in New York are pushing plans to build more docks along the waterfront.
The New York Times
Recession Changing Geography of Poverty
New data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that the first year of the recession has taken a harsh toll and that these impacts are being particularly felt in three key regions in the country.
ABC





















