The Next American City

In this new column, award-winning journalist and author Roberta Brandes Gratz reports on urban development crises around the country and the opportunities they present for positive action.

National ridership figures may be down, but grassroots collectives are thriving.

As the Not On My Beach crowd speaks out against wind farms, a certain level of hypocrisy emerges and shows the way for NIMBYs everywhere.

As the U.S. Green Building Council responds to critics and prepares its green rating system for massive changes, some say we must ask what more should be done to improve the process.

Mike Sabel takes an in-depth look at the future of Las Vegas, its enormous growth, and what happens when the water runs out.

Covering the cleanup efforts after Hurricane Katrina, Robert Bullard examines why the government neglects the problems of the poor, and in fact, makes them worse.

In Baltimore, gentrification seems to be taking its toll on the red-light district known as "the Block."

Bethlehem, PA pins its hopes on Pennsylvania's new slots laws. Jeff Pooley explores whether this is really the best hope for revitalization of the dying steel town.

Doug Giuliano recounts his adventures in the FEMA wonderland after heading to the Gulf Coast to help with hurricane recovery. What started as noble intentions ended mired in the muck of bureaucracy.

In a city known for the slogan "Keep Austin Weird," there rages a battle about historic preservation and gentrification, pitting neighbor against neighbor. Jeffrey Chusid shows us how one city tries to maintain its identity in the face of challenge.

As Asia ascends, we can learn a lot from how they preserve their past and celebrate the historic urban form.

Daniel Brooks writes about creative types struggle in our post-industrial cities and how the old paradigm of the "art scene" no longer holds sway.

Philadelphia is set to become the largest city in the nation with casinos, but boosters worry that the gaming venues won't fit with the city's recent revitalization.

With the suburban lifestyle clearing entrenched in the American mainstream, planners should stop criticizing suburban living and help address the environmental and societal problems that face the nation's low-density communities.

As television uses more and more suburban settings, viewers should ask how closely do the on-screen places resemble reality.

Trains have played a large role in shaping America's past, and will have a big impact on her future as rail transit continues to change the way we think about urban growth.

In the begining there was the duty-free shop. These days, though, airports contain a multitude of shopping, dining, and entertainment options, essentially doubling as a suburban mall.

Sacramento's MPO thinks it's time to re-establish the old link between public health and city planning. But is smart growth really healthier? And whose responsibility is it to build healthy cities anyways?

From the Inuit to the City of Portland, a chorus of local entities are fed up with the lack of environmental initiatives and standards set at the national level, especially as pertaining to transportation-caused pollution, and many have begun to sue.

How and why Minneapolis built the nation's largest skyway system.