Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin

A recent conference focused on how planners use the transformative effect that artists bring to a community to help jump start urban revitalization.

Chicago shouldn't be surprised if drivers don't take to transit once its new pricing scheme is enacted. No matter the cost, most motorists won't make the switch until the city's transit system is more reliable, argues a recent column.

This article from Grist looks at the environmental efforts being taken in Cleveland, a historically polluted and struggling Rust Belt city.

Chicago's federally funded pilot program will target some of the city's most congested arteries with new bus-rapid transit lines that will feature dedicated lanes, pre-paid boarding, "next bus" signs, and potentially bicycle sharing.

This piece from The Cleveland Free Times argues that policy can and does encourage sprawl, and none of the candidates running for president will do anything to combat these policies. Meanwhile, American cities will continue to die off.

Builders and planners are gathering in Detroit to discuss funding options for brownfield redevelopment and learn from region's experience transforming these community eyesores.

Officials in Youngstown, Ohio, hope to save money and strengthen their community by vacating sparsely populated neighborhoods, but homeowners in the targeted areas are reluctant to leave -- even with the city's $50,000 incentives.

$153 million in congestion reduction funds that had been awarded to New York City will now go to Chicago to apply congestion pricing to street parking spaces. Funds will also go toward developing pilot Bus Rapid Transit routes on dedicated lanes.

Private investors and developers must come forward and plan around proposed rail lines in Detroit if there is any hope of transit materializing, according to this editorial.

A recent editorial argues that Detroit must look for ways to concentrate its dwindling population in a smaller, more compact city if it is to survive.

Older buildings with lower rents have enabled new businesses to startup in this Michigan city's lively downtown.

A HUD plan that allows municipalities to buy up foreclosed homes for just $1 is causing controversy in Wayne County, Michigan, where cities and counties are fighting over who is best suited to take over abandoned homes.

If local officials don't come together with a workable plan, Detroit may just blow its last chance to implement a regional transportation system.

While experts now say that the lease term Indiana agreed to was too long, and the payment it received in return too small, so far all parties appear to be better off –- the road, the drivers, the toll takers, the Governor, and the state.

After years of decline, Youngstown Ohio has an aggressive plan to bulldoze abandoned properties and pare back on services and infrastructure.

Michael Gecan uses the Chicago and New York City areas as examples of the challenges facing mature suburbs, examines the ways many are avoiding reality, and draws a series of conclusions.

Th small town of Golf, Illinois, is likely to stay that way because of barriers at its borders. Its residents couldn't be happier.

The greater Toledo area needs to think harder about creating regional development if it wants to compete in the globalizing economy, according to this editorial.

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.

With a growth rate of more than 75% over the last seven years, Kendall County, Illinois, is changing fast and the local farming community is struggling to adapt.