The Wall Street Journal

The housing boom has busted in a tiny village in the West African country of Guinea, where homebuilders had constructed rows of new mud houses in hopes of cashing in on the rising demand for housing and its rising costs. Now, they sit empty.

Cities on the rise are growing faster and cities on the decline are shrinking slower, according to new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.

A survey of architects shows that a very low percentage of Americans are still clamoring for McMansions, indicating what may be a broad shift to smaller homes.

Cities like Portland and Austin have been magnets for young professionals. Amid the recession, these cities have few jobs to offer. But the hipsters keep coming.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said recently that California and Florida are likely to be the first recipients of stimulus funding for high speed rail projects.

Encouraging the creative class to rent and eventually own in foreclosed neighborhoods revives blighted neighborhoods, but the strategy isn't without controversy or setbacks.

'Peak oil' refers to a belief that growing oil demand will outstrip finite oil supplies. Peak U.S. oil consumption is premised on the belief that 2007 marked the peak, population increase notwithstanding, due to efficiency, biofuels and batteries.

In midsize cities across the United States, consumer borrowing has actually increased, which often leads to higher employment levels and wages than average.

In many areas, housing on the suburban fringe has gone rental. The shift indicates mobility on the part of renters who want to stay put, but could also be a precursor for a low-income future for the exurbs.

College towns fare relatively well during a recession due to the stable, highly skilled work force colleges offer their communities.

Ray LaHood rejected raising the gas tax, then President Obama rejected a vehicle-miles-traveled fee. What's left is "out-of-the-box" ideas like tolling and public-private-partnerships.

A boomtown in the desert that was expected to grow in population to more than 350,000 by 2020 is going bust, and putting things in perspective as the economy dives and foreclosures spread.

Over a hundred boxcars have sat for about a year in an Indiana hamlet, proving to be the biggest nuisance to those who, live, and play near them. Of no use to railroad companies with nothing to ship, such rail cars now sit idle all over the country.

President Barack Obama is seeking greater control over the 2010 Census. This opinion piece from The Wall Street Journal looks at what it could mean for the upcoming count.

The rock after which Little Rock, AR is named will be excavated to cap off the revitalization of the city's riverfront. No one knows how much of the rock, estimated to be 300 million years old, is left, which raises the question: Is it worth it?

Officials are complaining about the first draft of the economic stimulus package, arguing that it does not dedicate enough money to transit projects and heavily favors road building.

Exxon's CEO has joined Al Gore, Dr. James Hansen, and others on the forefront fighting climate change in requesting a carbon tax, though they make in clear it should be in lieu of cap & trade, the method favored by the Democrats.

The U.S. Census Bureau released its report for the year ending July 1, 2008. It showed that the effect of the recession was to reduce domestic migration from the Northeast and Midwest to the West and Sunbelt. Utah was the fastest growing state.

Surprising many, IL Congressman Ray LaHood, a Republican, was selected to fill the transportation position in Obama's administration, presumably to show a bi-partisan approach. Transportation reauthorization and the stimulus package await LaHood.

Congress has approved a $4 billion federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, but as the funding trickles down to cities, many find the money too tight to solve many of their problems.