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The Planetizen News Brief

5 June 2008 - 5:00am
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.

Full Transcript

History provides many lessons, especially for cities. Places over time evolve and what they do to evolve can be instructive for other places. Take for example Charles City and Parkersburg, two small towns in Iowa. 40 years ago Charles City was devastated by a tornado, and more recently Parkersburg was hit by another devastating twister. Those who lived through the Charles City tornado back in 1968 are hoping residents in Parkersburg will try to think of their current situation in the rubble of a natural disaster not as a travesty but rather as an opportunity. An article in The Des Moines Register looks at how in the late '60s Charles City was able to replan its downtown to be more vibrant and successful – a broad effort that was a direct result of the tornado. Officials who helped the rebuilding effort are calling on the residents of the more recently devastated Parkersburg to think hard about how they too can not only rebuild their town, but how they can rebuild their town into a better one.

And in Miami, officials are also looking at ways they can remake and revive their struggling downtown area. An article in the Miami Herald reports on the emerging consensus in Miami that something needs to change downtown. With high crime, crumbling infrastructure and a retail business core that has largely been stagnant for years, business leaders are pushing for a spark to relight the fire in downtown Miami. Many are seeing that spark in the recent condo boom that has put a handful of new towers in the area. Though many are concerned that the new residences aren’t selling as fast as they’d hoped, there is still some faith that if the condos are there, the people will follow. But for the struggling businesses in Miami’s downtown core, how long it takes to get those people to follow will be critical to how long they can stay afloat.

And while downtown Miami’s businesses are struggling, big box retailers are adapting. Retailers like Target and Circuit City are taking new shapes to fit in to dense urban areas. A recent article in Architectural Record looks at how these multinational retailers are slimming their stores down to enter tighter and denser spaces in cities. This is relatively new territory for a retail model based around single-story warehouse developments on sprawling lots with oceans of parking. While ten years ago only 1 percent of the nation’s big box stores were located in cities, that figure has jumped up to 5 percent now and insiders expect it to keep rising. But retailers are cautious about getting too deep into urban markets, as they’re not sure if shoppers really want a big box shopping experience in a small box location.

Stories discussed in this week's Planetizen News Brief

Opportunities in Tornadoes

On the Brink? Miami's Downtown Struggles To Revitalize

Big Box on a Diet

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"To ignore this space is shortsighted." -- Jennifer Wolch, Director of the USC Center for Sustainable Cities
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