American Cities

Designer Rachael Smith argues that a Puritan attitude toward color explains why so many American cities are clad in grays and browns, and links the gray-ification of cities to their gentrification.

March 31, 2021 - Next City

Have all cities lost people due to COVID-19, or just a few high-cost ones?

March 1, 2021 - Michael Lewyn

After moving toward Democrats for decades, central cities moved toward Republicans in 2020.

December 2, 2020 - Michael Lewyn

Some cities have become significantly more violent since the George Floyd protests began—but not all. Why have some cities been more successful than others?

September 14, 2020 - Michael Lewyn

Those of us who cherish cities have much to be grateful for (at least in some cities).

April 2, 2018 - Michael Lewyn

Urbanist Jane Jacobs' support for mixed use development has long been seen as the best urban design strategy, but this vision assumed that the retail space under housing could be rented. What if that is no longer the case?

February 19, 2017 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Has the smart growth movement succeeded? It depends how you measure "success."

December 27, 2016 - Michael Lewyn

How much do we have to fear from the president-elect's policy plans for urban America? We can hope that he will follow his party's playbook and largely ignore the cities, but potential changes to housing policy are more serious.

December 1, 2016 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Cities have appeared to figure very little into the presidential election up to now. To get a sense of whether this impression is accurate, I spent some time looking at the two party platforms, and the two candidate's websites.

August 16, 2016 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Planners across the globe have been exploring opportunities to use augmented reality to enhance the way the public engages with the city. Over the last few days Pokémon Go took off, and now people are wandering across cities to catch Pokémon.

July 13, 2016 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

The in-migration of Millennials is largely driving the changes that American cities are going through. More specifically, it is the ones with college degrees who are driving the change. Where are they moving, and what is their effect?

June 24, 2016 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Exploding global population numbers and worries about escalating energy prices, climate change, and energy independence have placed a priority on net-zero building. This article explores the viability of net-zero communities and cities.

June 22, 2016 - Blue & Green Tomorrow

A simple demonstration of one of the benefits of density.

July 11, 2015 - Architect This City

Recent stories claiming that millenials either (a) prefer cities to suburbs or (b) prefer suburbs to cities both have some basis in reality.

June 1, 2015 - Michael Lewyn

Governing's recent study of gentrification systematically exaggerates gentrification in a variety of ways.

February 2, 2015 - Michael Lewyn

"Who's Moving to the Cities, Who Isn't" suggest that the number of Americans selling the "Golden Age" cities narrative is greater than the number of Americans buying into it.

October 6, 2014 - Center for Community Progress

Discussing some of the most pro-urban movies ever made.

March 1, 2014 - Michael Lewyn

An intrepid Reddit user has produced a striking visualization for the economic importance of the country’s urban areas by splitting the nation’s GDP into two—the top 50 percent and the lower 50 percent.

February 24, 2014 - The Washington Post - The Fix

A new report by Brookings confirms that “big cities remain more unequal places by income than the rest of the country.” Where is the gap between wealth and poverty the greatest?

February 24, 2014 - Brookings

Chuck Wolfe comments on this week's mayoral election in Seattle, suggesting the pending populist model for New York City is already on display.

November 4, 2013 - myurbanist