The Wall Street Journal

Developers are reacting to the market's demand for environmentally-friendly development and locally-grown food by creating housing developments that include farmable land.

Though swank new condo towers in certain hip metro markets are catering to young singles, empty nesters are ruining the party by purchasing units as well.

In this Wall Street Journal editorial, the author analyzes Census data to argue that famed "Coastal Megalopolises" such as Los Angeles, Boston, New York and San Francisco are actually becoming America's equivalent of Mexico City and São Paulo.

Rather than advocate for population growth, the gritty industrial city of Youngstown, Ohio, has launched a bold plan to -- among other strategies -- let declining neighborhoods empty out and be converted to greenspace.

As the economy improves, more trucks are using the nation’s highways for long distance travel – and they need parking spots if the trip takes more than 11 hours. They often idle all night wherever they can find a spot – including the road shoulder.

Led by bike-friendly Amsterdam and Copenhagen, European cities are ramping up efforts to shift more commuting and short car trips to pedal-power.

As vehicles become more fuel efficient, their drivers pay less in fuel excise taxes, the main source of road funding. Fuel efficiency will likely increase as a global warming reduction strategy, while fuel excise taxes remain largely stagnant.

Despite vastly higher levels of federal affordable housing tax credits awarded to Louisiana, developers are pulling out of projects because they can't make sufficient profits.

Proposed state legislation in Arizona will punish cities that offer subsidies to retail projects. Kansas City's new mayor was elected on an anti-TIF platform. Increasingly, public financing for urban revitalization is coming under attack.

While some cities are attempting to drive immigrants out, others are welcoming them with open arms. As a Wall Street Journal writer asserts, "All booming American cities are immigrant cities."

In a Google era -- and for a generation of suburban kids who want to own books and AV -- the local library may be losing its appeal.

Cheap hydroelectric power helped Quincy, Washington -- population 5,300 -- hit the high-tech economy jackpot. But with land prices skyrocketing and local services taxed, might the boom be too much of a good thing?

Though it is designed to cushion the blow for workers laid off because of foreign competition, the Trade Act Adjustment program is widely criticized for being difficult to access and unrealistic for many adults with extremely limited incomes.

With the U.S. Decennial Census long form dropped in favor of the annual American Community Survey, the Census Bureau is busy preparing its one-page, six-question form. The task is not as easy as you'd think.

After the San Francisco Planning Department rejects several condo projects for the city's historic State Armory and Arsenal Building on the edge of the Mission District, an Internet pornography studio buys the building to make films.

Changes in technology -- and many parents' obsessive search for the perfect school -- are enabling families to move further afield to access quality education.

How accurate is the popular website that offers free estimates of home values?

Prestigious Manhattan locations are being purchased by absentee buyers for their occasional visits, with ill effects for those who want to call Manhattan their first home. New construction is often targeted for wealthy part-timers, not residents.

Higher interest rates, cooling housing markets, restrictive mortgages and more cautious banks are combining to choke off the home refinancing market. The current wave of mortgage defaults could be just the "tip of the iceberg."

The "often-overlooked measure" of homes for sale that are empty is the highest it's ever been. The figure could represent the influence of housing "speculators" and may signal continuing weakness in the national housing market.