The Next American City

Next American City reviews a new book called Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What it Says about Us) by journalist Tom Vanderbilt, which follows in the footsteps of Freakonomics and Blink.

Simmons Buntin tours metropolitan Denver with local planner Carolyn Dooling and finds a host of vibrant developments.

Next American City nails NIMBYs for their vacation choices.

Next American City reflects on the changing face of suburbia.

This article from Next American City looks at escalators -- the expensive, energy-intensive, and often under-used transportation mode.

Urban decay blankets much of downtown Detroit. More and more people are pushing for adaptive reuse of the aging and underused buildings, but some city policies may get in the way.

An avalanche decimates an Alaskan city's energy infrastructure, leading residents to craft creative ways to conserve energy and lower their utility bills.

Thanks to industrialized agriculture, there’s a wide gulf between those who produce food and those who consume it. Too many city-dwellers lack access to nutritious, non-processed foods. Dave Steel thinks that urban agriculture is the key.

After forty years in the statistical doldrums, what does Milwaukee make of a sudden, slight increase in population? Local expert and urban enthusiast Dave Steele reports.

A dazzling wildflower season spells trouble for master-planned communities across the West.

In Nebraska, a state experiencing just a moderate level of Hispanic immigration inflow, Attorney General Jon Bruning has drawn the line on who he’ll protect from abusive housing policies and who he won’t. For him, immigrants simply aren’t worth it.

How does a rapidly changing news media affect big city planning? Badly, according to this post from Next American City.

This article from Next American City looks at the decreasing numbers of minority architects and the possible problems this shortage poses to the field and to the planning of cities.

This article from Next American City looks at the new land use ideas that are guiding development in disaster-prone areas.

A proposed public art piece featuring a bronze statue of the "Happy Days" character Arthur "the Fonz" Fonzarelli has many up in arms about the process creating and approving public art.

As the population continues to drop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, many in the city are looking to the arts as a way to revive and rebuild the community.

At the World Trade Center and Pentagon, plans are underway for elaborate memorials to the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. But what of the non-descript field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where another hijacked flight crashed that day?

This post from The Next American City's blog looks at plans for building affordable housing in Washington D.C. and how the city is in a much better position to provide for its low income residents than many other major cities.

The Fair Housing Act was passed by Congress in 1968, but some minorities still struggle to obtain mortgages and home loans. This article from The Next American City asks why.

Architect Teddy Cruz takes a drive through the convoluted and complex city of Tijuana in this article from The Next American City.