Economic Recession

The recession is taking its toll on the nation's population growth rate. A lagging birth rate and a precipitous drop in immigration, particularly those entering the country illegally, resulted in a 0.7% growth rate. Immigration is at a 20-year low.

Scott Timburg labels Richard Florida overly optimistic and blames the media for not portraying the 'fading creative class,' because their recession pain has not been sufficiently dramatic.

While many stories have been written about Detroit's turnaround, it took the top spot on Forbes list of most dangerous cities. Detroit had 1,111 violent crimes reported per 100,000 residents, which included 345 murders, writes John Giuffo.

Richard Florida examines the stark regional variance behind American unemployment figures. He finds that Bismark and Fargo in North Dakota have least unemployment, while the Californian Central Valley suffers the highest.

A study by the National League of Cities says how the economic recession has finally started to hit cities as property- and income-tax have decreased. Cities are balancing their budgets through layoffs, canceled construction projects or raised fees.

Blue argues that bicycle advocates need to consider the economic perspective of all individuals that use bicycles as transportation. Not all who bicycle do it by choice, says Blue.

Bay City, Michigan, which has seen seven consecutive months of rising home prices, is one of 25 metro areas seeing a rebound in their real estate market despite a slow economic recovery, Morgan Brennan reports for Forbes.

Suburban growth has coincided with the increase in immigrant population. Yet, while immigrants account for 30 percent suburban population growth, they account for only a fifth of the increase in the poor population, a recent Brookings study showed.

States' borrowing ability may be limited and federal deficit reductions are expected to leave municipal market in limbo, report Kathy Bergen, Kristen Mack and Monique Garcia for Chicago Tribune.

Nevada was the fastest growing state in the nation over the last ten years, but amid that growth has been a severe economic downturn.

Nicole Gelinas argues that five years after Hurricane Katrina, the city is on the path to becoming a bona fide urban success story thanks to its determined residents.

Joel Kotkin hypothesizes as to which cities will emerge from the recession stronger than ever.

Jonathan Glancey argues that in the wake of the UK government's culling of Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, and a recession which only diluted our consumerist thirst, the current aim to build cheaply has cost us design quality.

Across the country, a growing number of towns, cities and other local governments are seeking refuge in havens that many states provide as alternatives to federal bankruptcy court.

In the last ten years, more than two thirds of poverty growth has happened in suburban areas of American cities. According to Brookings', social services such as transit have failed to keep up in the face of decreasing tax revenue.

Richard Florida argues that edge cities ravaged by the recession should take cues from urban development patterns to spur growth.

While other parts of the country see economic improvement, Las Vegas continues to experience the deepest crisis of its modern history. Is its leisure-based economy to blame?

Derek Thompson reports on the twenty strongest metro areas and the major factors behind their success in recovering from the recession. He concludes that the country "did not experience an even, cross-country recession."

Aaron Renn argues that when it comes to thinking on large cities, "too many people remain stuck in the 90s." Now that the recession has civic finances in a vice grip, we ought to focus not on condos or bike shares, but straightforward job creation.

The crash of the economy happened at the right time for gentrifying downtown Los Angeles, according to this piece from the Los Angeles Times.