Community / Economic Development

SF Cable Cars

Milken Institute Ranks 2014's 'Best Performing Cities'

The Milken's Institute report ranked San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City at the top of the performance index for the first time in the list's 15-year history.

January 9, 2015 - CityLab

Foreclosures Are Making People Sick

Seven years after the housing bust began, millions of Americans are still suffering. And suffering is the operative word—because both foreclosures and economic inequality impact people’s health.

January 9, 2015 - Rooflines

New York's Applied Sciences Campuses and 'Metropolitan Revolution'

As its most recent entry in a new series of "Metropolitan Revolution Blog Series," Brookings examines the recent proliferation of applied sciences campuses in New York City.

January 8, 2015 - Brookings

Kids Crossing the Street

How to Promote a Kid-Friendly, Walkable City

Jennifer Keesmaat, chief planner and executive director for the city of Toronto, shares tips for how to create safe, fun environments for children.

January 7, 2015 - Active for Life

Glenwood Green Acres, Philadelphia

10 of the Best Urban Agriculture Projects

Urban Land surveys ten of the best recent examples of development projects that incorporate agricultural facilities—from New York to new Orleans.

January 6, 2015 - Urban Land

Would Building in Hot Markets Help Housing Affordability?

As people move back into the cities, and rental housing demand goes up, it's been an interesting time for people wrestling with the problems of highly unaffordable areas to live.

January 6, 2015 - Rooflines

Say it Loud: Inequality is Bad for Everyone

There is an invisible culprit in the great scandal of inequality in America: your Econ 101 textbook. Go ahead, dig it out from that storage chest, and undoubtedly you’ll read that inequality, while we might not like it, is good for economic growth

January 4, 2015 - Rooflines

Dive Bar

Everybody Loves Dive Bars—So Why Aren't They Easier to Protect?

An Esquire article about the disappearance of neighborhood dive bars in cities like Chicago asks why people to support their local watering hole.

January 3, 2015 - Esquire

How the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust Gets the Job Done

In a city of increasingly scarce land, the Los Angeles Neighborhood land Trust has a track record of ushering community gardens and other public health resources in low-income communities.

January 2, 2015 - Seedstock

'GrowSouth' Plan Demolishes Record Number of Structures in Dallas

A Dallas economic development plan called "GrowSouth"—spearheaded by the office of Mayor Mike Rawlings—removed a record number of blighted and nuisance structures in 2014.

January 2, 2015 - The Dallas Morning News

Street in La Laguna, Canary Island Tenerife, Spain

Top Planning Trends – 2014

A deeper look at the traffic data on Planetizen reveals trends from the planning and urban design conversation of 2014.

December 31, 2014 - James Brasuell

Plummeting Oil Prices Bring Economic Challenges to U.S. Petro-States

While U.S. motorists are enjoying the cheapest gas prices in five years, domestic oil producers are suffering, though not as badly as oil-exporting nations like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. How are Texas, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Alaska faring?

December 29, 2014 - The New York Times

'Self-Sufficiency Standard' Reveals Distressing Levels of Poverty

Most policies regarding poverty are driven by obsolete metrics. Another model, which measures the very basic needs for survival, reveals deep poverty in New York City.

December 27, 2014 - Quartz

Seattle Tenants Force Public Housing Not To Raise Rent

Seattle tenants win in rejecting public housing's proposal to quadruple rent.

December 26, 2014 - Rooflines

Polls: New York Fracking Ban Has Wide Support

According to a Quinnipiac University Poll, New Yorkers upstate, downstate, Democrat, and Republican, all supported Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to ban fracking—only energy companies and some businesses and property owners expressed dismay.

December 24, 2014 - Newsmax

10 Years After the Indonesian Tsunami: Rehousing for Resilience

What can rehousing initiatives teach us about the ongoing struggle for urban resilience?

December 23, 2014 - Places Journal

Renters Are Not the Problem

A few weeks ago, Alan Mallach asked the question, "do urban neighborhoods need homeowners?" Tony Roshan Samara challenges his answer.

December 23, 2014 - Rooflines

Downtown Cincinnati

The Role of Stadiums in Urban Revitalization

Los Angeles Dodger Senior Vice President of Planning and Development Janet Marie Smith reflects on her efforts to breathe new life into downtowns through sports stadiums.

December 23, 2014 - The Planning Report

Sunset Plaza

Part One: Should MoMA Tout Tactical Urbanism(s) as a Solution to Uneven Growth?

In part one of a two-part series, I introduce MoMA's latest Issues in Contemporary Architecture exhibit and offer a definition of Tactical Urbanism.

December 20, 2014 - Mike Lydon

New Mayor, New Agenda for the Port City of Long Beach

Recently elected Mayor of Long Beach Robert Garcia, 37 years old, outlines his priorities: education, climate change, and economic development.

December 19, 2014 - The Planning Report

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

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.