The Arizona Republic

Urban planner James Rojas takes his public participation concept to Avondale, Arizona, encouraging people to be part of the urban design process through pipe cleaners, Legos and Tinkertoys.

In 1970, visionary architect Paolo Solieri began envisioned a utopian city in Arizona. The resulting development, Arcosanti, and its architect have struggled for relevancy ever since.

Officials in Tempe, Arizona and Maricopa County are using federal stimulus money to help end chronic homelessness by providing permanent housing options.

The housing affordability rule of thumb is that you should not pay more that 30% of your income in rent or mortgage payment. Yet that ratio doesn't include the transportation costs that vary by community. What would it be if it was included?

Changing demographics and transit demands in the Phoenix area are causing transit planners to rethink where the region's light rail system should expand.

As a preventive measure to avoid future NIMBYism, an Air Force base in Arizona has effectively blocked the spread of residential development close to its borders.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has come out as a strong proponent of bringing nuclear power back into the state's energy fold.

A new study finds that while Arizona residents like where they live, they have low levels of civic engagement.

Planners from Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno met this week to discuss plans for high-speed rail between their cities, since they've been left off the map of potential corridors to be funded by the stimulus package.

That's what the Maricopa Association of Governments is proposing, to meet the needs of the millions projected to move into the Phoenix metro area by 2050, along with 320 miles of new rail transit. Some are questioning the population projections.

The population of illegal immigrants in Arizona has dropped by a third, the biggest drop in the nation.

Former Arizona Department of Transportation director Victor M. Mendez has bee chosen by the Obama administration to head the FHA.

County sheriff’s deputies seek to cut inmate transportation costs by utilizing the Metro Light Rail. Passenger safety concerns have obviously been raised.

Some trends are indicating that when the 2010 Census goes through Phoenix it's going to show a shrinking population -- a first for the booming desert city.

Phoenix is counting on a new light rail system to revive one of the city's long-ignored commercial corridors when trains start operation at the end of the year.

Two men calling themselves the Typo Eradication Advancement League drove around the country fixing typos on signage in national parks- until the park service caught them defacing a historic marker in the Grand Canyon.

Scottsdale, Arizona planners have released a new vision for their downtown, in a 'trend toward urban living'.

Downtown Phoenix prepares for a facelift with a new form-based code and downtown master plan.

Bicycle commuting is on the rise in metropolitan Phoenix, where bike shops are reporting increasing sales of commuter bikes.

The Navajo Nation has announced plans to build wind turbines and generate electricity in the windy high mesas of Northern Arizona.