Community / Economic Development

Beverly Hills

Report: The 'Retail Apocalypse' Is Fake News

Reports of the death of brick and mortar retail have been greatly exaggerated, according to a new analysis.

September 4, 2017 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Sunday Fun: A Tour of America's Largest 'Garden Walk' Event

Garden Walk Buffalo began in 1995, and in 2017 it's the largest Garden Walk event in the country.

September 3, 2017 - Garden with Diana

California's Low Unemployment Hides High Levels of Poverty

Because of its high cost of living, California has the nation's highest poverty level, according to the U.S. Census.

September 1, 2017 - CALmatters

San Francisco Mural

Friday Eye Candy: Portraits Made Public—For Community Awareness and Placemaking

The "Inside Out Project: We Are Edison" installation posted large portraits of residents in the Kalamazoo neighborhood of Edison on the side of a building. The exhibition invites the community to take a look at itself.

September 1, 2017 - MLive

Durham, North Carolina

Not All Mid-Sized Local Economies Are Alike

The research director of the National League of Cities explains the defining characteristics of local economies—namely that of five distinct kinds of local economies, three serve to distinguish the nuances between mid-sized cities.

August 31, 2017 - CitiesSpeak

Warning restrictions

Getting Creative to Reduce (or Increase) Beach Access

Communities and municipalities have deployed a surprisingly creative menu of policies to increase or restrict access to beaches. The Public trust doctrine, it turns out, is in the eye of the beach-holder.

August 29, 2017 - Next City

Seattle, Washington

Amazon Makes Seattle the Nation's Biggest Company Town

The company town seems like a relic of a previous era of American industry, but Amazon and Seattle are redefining the concept.

August 29, 2017 - The Seattle Times

Pittsburgh to Gain a 23-Acre, $10 Million Urban Farm

The Hilltop Urban Farm project is moving along in Pittsburgh. Few, if any, community gardens have been built on this scale before.

August 29, 2017 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Baltimore Rowhouses

Advocates Tout Community Land Trusts for Solutions to Displacement, Blight

Community land trusts are a favorite tool of advocates who want to take a communitarian approach to property and public space in cities facing the challenges of population decline, blight, and gentrification.

August 27, 2017 - Yes! Magazine

Empty Parking Lot

AVs and Real Estate - A Guide to Potential Impacts

AVs are more than a transportation issue and will have significant impacts on real estate. Expect AVs to affect parking, sprawl, housing prices, and transit.

August 24, 2017 - Urbanism Next Blog - Sustainable Cities Initiative

Lombard Street San Francisco

Too Much Driving is Spoiling California's Emissions Report Card

A new economics report from Beacon Economics for Next 10 shows that what good for the environment is good for the state's economy, but the results are marred by increasing vehicle-miles-traveled. The state's housing crisis is partly to blame.

August 24, 2017 - Business Wire

King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh

'Economic Cities,' Saudi Arabia's Mega Projects

Saudi Arabia's government has made huge investments in the hopes of building new cities and districts to attract investment and tourism, despite past failures.

August 21, 2017 - Bloomberg

Community Meeting

Successfully Engaging With Underrepresented Communities for Comprehensive Plans

Community engagement is a powerful tool to guide investments toward the places we inhabit.

August 20, 2017 - PlanIt - Metropolitan Council

London Public Art

Trafalgar Square Shows How to Reuse Pedestals Where Statues Once Stood

Baltimore tore down its Confederate monuments, now they have an opportunity to showcase the city's artists.

August 19, 2017 - CityLab

Draught Works Brewpub

A Montana College Town's Beer Economy

Missoula, Montana is home to seven craft brewers, and two more are in the works. The small town has seen development and jobs from these local businesses, but some fear market saturation.

August 18, 2017 - CityLab

Canary Wharf Station

What Will Become of London's Transit Megaproject After Brexit?

London's Crossrail promises faster commutes and neighborhood revitalization in a global economic hub. But what if Brexit puts a damper on that future?

August 18, 2017 - The New York Times

Another Tool to Build Public Infrastructure in Post-Redevelopment California

UC San Francisco is using a Campus Facilities Improvement Association (CFIA) to help build its Mission Bay campus. Infrastructure financing wonk Jim Chappell explains how it works.

August 17, 2017 - UrbDeZine

Downtown Skyline

When Men Control the Debate About the Future of Cities

Essential reading from Alissa Walker.

August 16, 2017 - Curbed

Texas

Study Sheds Light on the Effect of Streetlights on Crime

A study of the neighborhood and streets in the city of Houston finds that streetlights aren't always an effective crime deterrent.

August 16, 2017 - The Urban Edge

Yankee STadium

The Bronx Hopes to Tech Boom

"The Bronx is open for business—the tech business," according to an opinion piece in Crain's New York Business.

August 15, 2017 - Crain's New York Business

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Transportation Planner I

KFH Group Inc.

Director, Strategy and Research

Greater Baltimore Committee

Senior Planner

Eagle County Government

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.