Community / Economic Development

Using Music to Create Community

Can outdoor concerts transform a neglected place into a beloved city center? "Creative placemaking" is trendy now, but Levitt Pavilions, a national non-profit, has been making places vibrant by building outdoor concert venues for seven years now.

August 8, 2014 - Site Specific

Multi-Generational Housing not only for Oldest Adults, Also Young Adults.

The Great Recession spiked the amount of young adults (aged 25-34) living in multi-generational housing, which has now surpassed the share of oldest adults (age 85+) living in these types of household structures.

August 8, 2014 - Pew Research Center

Can the Walton Family Help Reverse Arkansas Sprawl?

Led by the Walton Family Foundation, Northwest Arkansas officials look to "sense of place" and walkable urban solutions for future economic growth and attraction of talent.

August 8, 2014 - Better Cities & Towns

Elfreth's Alley

Revisiting the Common Sense Elements of City Life

Chuck Wolfe revisits five instances of how we can learn from the urbanism we already have.

August 8, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Study uses Google Street View to Assess Gentrification

By assessing three different groups of indicators, researchers were able to tour thousands of blocks in Chicago through Google Street View and compare visual signs of reinvestment and renewal between 2007 and 2009.

August 7, 2014 - Gizmodo

Tucson Streecar

Place-Based Development and Streetcar Transforming Downtown Tucson

Restaurants, retail, offices, and adobe homes pop-up in and around the long-suffering downtown damaged by urban renewal.

August 6, 2014 - Better Cities & Towns

Luxury Developments Moving into the Sunset Strip; Porn and Clubs, Moving Out.

The 1.6 mile stretch of Sunset Boulevard in the city West Hollywood is destined for more than $600 million in developments planned or already being built, mostly composed of luxury hotels and condominiums.

August 6, 2014 - Bloomberg

NashvilleNext

How a Bunch of Nosepickers are Helping Nashville Plan for its Future

Booming development and shifting demographics are driving updates to Music City’s land use policies. Civic leaders and planners say they want residents to steer the process, which has meant getting people’s attention in some unlikely ways.

August 6, 2014 - Colby Sledge

San Antonio Christmas

Why 'Place' Is the New American Dream

The new American Dream will transform cities and towns in the 21st Century. To understand it, we have to grasp a few features of the previous American Dream.

August 5, 2014 - Better Cities & Towns

Oakland skyline and San Francisco Bay

Time to Look at Oakland

While Oakland is by no means an easy place to develop real estate, the often maligned East Bay city of over 400,000 residents may very well be the Bay Area’s best place to embrace much-needed development.

August 4, 2014 - Reuben Duarte

San Francisco's Anti-Displacement Movement: Progressives Against Progress?

The tech industry's push into San Francisco has entailed a fight for political and cultural legitimacy as well as social justice--one that shakes up conventional wisdom about conservatism, progressivism, and progress itself.

August 2, 2014 - The Nation

'Urban Acupuncture' Prescribed for Los Angeles' Streets

Pulling from Jaime Lerner's famed expression of 'Urban Acupuncture,' Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has chosen 15 major thoroughfares to transform into hubs of neighborhood activity as a part of the Great Streets initiative.

August 2, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

Growing Concentrations of Poverty in American Suburbs

Updating the initial "Re-Emergence of Concentrated Poverty" Brookings report, Elizabeth Kneebone shows where concentrations of poverty have taken root during the Great Recession and subsequently slow recovery period.

August 1, 2014 - Brookings Institution

Jobs-Rich Cities: Three Potential Frontiers of Economic Development

Unemployment still looms above 2007 levels, and is coupled with the lowest labor force participation in 30 years. Arthur Burris outlines what kinds of strategies cities can adopt to help their local economies.

August 1, 2014 - Living Cities

Boxing Gyms in Shrinking Cities: Refuge for the Formerly Incarcerated

Sociologist Lucia Trimbur describes how urban boxing gyms provide an opportunity for a particularly vulnerable population, formerly incarcerated men of color, to "recover from detention and establish stability in the free world."

July 31, 2014 - Urban Omnibus

University of Chicago

The University and The City: Location and Structure

Institutional structure and culture can matter as much as location to the success and survival of urban universities.

July 31, 2014 - Dean Saitta

Real Estate Woes Hemorrhaging Wealth from the Middle Class

An article on the Washington Post Wonkblog shows how deeply the real estate crash impacted the wealth of the Middle Class—now on the tail end of three lost decades.

July 30, 2014 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

First Net-Zero Energy Apartments Planned in South Sacramento

Housing 120 units, the first net-zero energy transit-oriented development complex in South Sacramento will feature a rooftop farm and resident-run onsite bicycle repair.

July 30, 2014 - Sacramento Bee

Add GE's Relocation to Cincinnati's Urban Renaissance

General Electric has a strong regional presence in the Cincinnati area, but none of its 10 facilities are located downtown. That is about to change thanks to Cincinnati's urban revival making it an attractive place for the company's younger workers.

July 30, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

Graduation Ceremony

The Future of Higher Education: Location, Location, Location

Despite the improving economy, the outlook for the higher education sector is still poor, especially between the endowment haves and have-nots. Another factor playing a critical role in the success or failure of institutions: their location.

July 29, 2014 - The Chronicle of Higher Education

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.