Land Use

Debating Urban Transit Tax Credits

New Jersey's Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit provided $1.5 billion in incentives for 13 projects, garnering mixed opinions over the past two years. Intended to build communities a half mile from transit, some question if it even works.

December 14, 2011 - NJ Spotlight

San Francisco's Performance Parking Pilot Less Successful Than Hoped

In San Francisco, a performance parking pilot program has not had as big an impact as many thought it would. According to Michael Perkins, "Even with high rates, popular blocks still fill up, and other blocks remain under-filled even at low prices."

December 13, 2011 - Greater Greater Washington

Brooklyn Developers Embark On Race Into The Sky

Long the sole preserve of Manhattan developers, Brooklyn is now the setting for its own race to the sky. Two developers are planning to break ground next year on residential buildings that will loom nearly 100 ft over any of their predecessors.

December 13, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal

LA Artist Reopens Derelict JC Penney As Art Complex

An LA based artist is about reopen a 100,000 square foot disused JC Penney as an arts complex in West Houston. The former West Oaks Mall anchor had been vacant for two years before becoming the focus of the new rehab concept.

December 13, 2011 - Swamplot.com

Manhattan's Far West Side Rises From Olympic Disappointment

A vibrant neighborhood is rising on Manhattan's far west side, where the Stadium and complex would have been built as proposed by the New York's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

December 12, 2011 - The New York Times

$600,00 Pocket Park Completed, Then Bulldozed to Build School

Jessica Garrison reports on how the City of Los Angeles spent $600k designing and building a park that no one ever got to use when it was claimed as a site for a public school.

December 12, 2011 - The Los Angeles Times

LA City Council Moves Closer To River Centric Development

The Los Angeles City Council last week approved an update to the Los Angeles River Implementation Overlay to encourage good quality river centric development and begin removing some of the concrete that covers the river and its banks.

December 12, 2011 - Curbed

Readers Respond To Leinberger's 'Death of Fringe Suburb'

The Times published three responses to op-eds by Leinberger and anti-sprawl contributor, Louise A. Mozingo. Univ. of IL urban planning professor and author Robert Bruegmann and Carnegie Endowment director Shin-Pei Tsay present contrasting viewpoints.

December 12, 2011 - The New York Times - Letters To Editor

For Luxury Apts, City May Exceed Parking Maximums

As plans move forward for luxury apartments on the site of Greenwich Village's former St. Vincent's Hospital, the city is divided over whether to allow an oversized parking garage on-site. The Municipal Art Society particularly cries "fuzzy math."

December 11, 2011 - Streetsblog New York

"Civic Action" Examines Art's Role In Development

The Noguchi museum in New York has asked four artists to take a crack at city planning by offering a new way of interpreting the construction of urban fabric. Martha Schwendener evaluates the results.

December 10, 2011 - The New York Times

As Long as It's Flexible, No End for Urban Retail

Last week, a panel of retailers and developers discussed the challenges--and, ultimately, the keys to success--of urban retail. Susan Piperato reports.

December 10, 2011 - National Real Estate Investor

How Manhattan's Grid Paved the Way to Success

A new exhibit at The Museum of the City of New York calls New York's 1807 master plan "The Greatest Grid." Jon Meacham takes us on a tour of the exhibit with curator Hilary Ballon.

December 9, 2011 - Metro Focus

Public Parks to Cover Highways in Hamburg

The City of Hamburg, Germany is planning on building elevated public parks on sections of the to-be-expanded A7 (Highway 7), which is considered one of the most important north-south connectors in Germany.

December 9, 2011 - TheCityFix.com

HUD Announces Sustainability Grant Winners

The 27 communities and regional planning organizations selected will receive a total $96 million to achieve their economic and environmental goals.

December 9, 2011 - Smart Planet

Urban Parks Grew in 2011, as Employment Declines

The 100 largest U.S. cities added 120 new parks last year, but overall spending remained largely flat. Approximately half the cities experienced cuts in their parks budgets, forcing departments to defer maintenance costs even as usership grows.

December 8, 2011 - City Parks Blog

Urban Parks Go to The Dogs

According to a study by the non-profit Trust for Public Land, reporter Haya El Nasser says that dog parks are becoming the fastest-growing of city parks nationwide.

December 8, 2011 - USA Today

Edward Blakey Reviews Moscow Expansion Plans

University of Sydney Professor Edward Blakely has reviewed Moscow’s plan to expand the capital’s borders to the south-west by 2014 and proclaimed that they will not hamper the city’s development. The territory will more than double.

December 8, 2011 - RT

A Pedestrian Plaza for Outer Brooklyn

Public plazas aren't just for Manhattan. As part of DOT's Public Plazas program, one outer Brooklyn neighborhood has seen a traffic island turned into a pedestrian plaza. Matt Chaban reports on the praise it has earned.

December 8, 2011 - The New York Observer

London's "Pop-Up" Shopping Mall To Be One of a Kind

British entrepreneur Roger Wade has built "[t]he most environmentally friendly shopping mall ever built." 'Boxpark,' which recently opened, is composed of 60 standard size shipping containers stacked two stories high by five rows wide.

December 7, 2011 - CNN

How the Suburbs Killed Our Connectivity, And How to Fix It

The deeper our sense of community, the better positioned we are to take on change, says Scott Doyon, but the leisurely lull of the suburbs may have killed our ability to work together.

December 7, 2011 - PlaceShakers

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