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The Planetizen News Brief

21 June 2007 - 6:00am
Smart City Radio

The Planetizen News Brief is a weekly rundown of some of the most interesting and important news and issues of the past week.

The Planetizen News Brief airs every week on the nationally-syndicated radio program "Smart City", which is broadcast in cities across the U.S. Learn more about Smart City and listen to archived shows.

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Full Transcript

Downtown revitalization seems to be on the agenda of nearly every big city in the U.S. And with the recent boom of condo conversions and high-rise apartment buildings, the strategy of most cities follows the mantra that if you build it they will come. But one city is skeptical about the wisdom of that approach. The Fort Worth Star Telegram reports that Mansfield, Texas, is looking to revitalize its historic downtown by bringing the people before the development, by hosting downtown events aimed at highlighting the area’s features and drawing in economic activity. For this suburb of Fort Worth and Arlington, the first step toward development is building a customer base: If they come, then the city will build it.

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, state officials are looking at ways of preserving the population base they already have. But in Pennsylvania, this population base is only temporary. With more than 250 colleges and universities, the state leads the nation in attracting out-of-state college freshman. But it also feels the sting as many of the students run for the border after graduating. So the state has begun offering millions of dollars in grants for research and millions more in tax credits for new companies. According to The Wall Street Journal, the state hopes that by encouraging companies to grow in the state, there will be enough attractive jobs to keep students after they receive their degrees. Cities have also joined the push by touting their relative affordability, especially when compared to the major job markets in New York and Los Angeles.

And finally, new census figures have revealed that despite rising gas prices and increasing distances between work and home, more and more people are commuting alone. By 2005, the percentage of people driving alone had increased to more than 77% of all commuters. The percentage of carpoolers dropped from nearly 13% in 2000 to just below 11 percent in 2005. But the U.S. Census Bureau reports that carpooling has shown some increases in rural and agricultural areas like Fresno, California, and Mesa, Arizona. And despite reported increases in ridership nationwide, less than 5% of commuters ride public transit to work, a rate that has remained relatively stagnant over the past 5 years. However, these figures are all from 2005, when the average gas price was $2.28. With national averages over $3 a gallon in 2007, many are expecting big changes in the next rounds of census data.

Stories discussed in this week's Planetizen News Brief

Bringing People To Downtown To Spur Development

Getting College Students To Stay And Put Down Roots

Census Figures Show More People Commuting Alone

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