Community / Economic Development
Portland Reconsidering its Urban Renewal Districts
The city of Portland is mulling changes to its urban renewal districts—including eliminating the newest of the lot, the Education District near Portland State University.
Why Urban History Matters
Chuck Wolfe's recent reconnaissance of Edinburgh provides a foil for his rallying cry: Going forward, let’s not discount the influence of history’s recurring themes in how we redevelop the urban realm.
Density: Difficulties Delivering on Campaign Promises in Minneapolis
The editorial board of the Minneapolis Star Tribune calls out the Minneapolis City Council following a recent decision to protect a one-story building at the cost of a hotel development plan.
Let Love Rule: Resilience in Mesquite
Are your local planning tools supporting a thriving and resilient future? Andrew von Maur shares a little inspiration from Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Atlanta’s Food Desert Problem
An estimated 500,000 residents of the Atlanta area live without access to grocery stores. A recent article asks the obvious question: “Why can we build multimillion-dollar highway systems and multibillion-dollar stadiums but not more grocery stores?"
A Guide to Organizations for Change—San Francisco Edition
The conversation about San Francisco has been dominated recently by housing, so maybe you forgot that San Francisco has a tradition of leading on social causes. Josh Wilson recently created a list for navigating the city like a radical.
Guerrilla Traffic Calming Efforts Elicit Mixed Responses
A recent article surveys a few examples of residents in cities around the country employing tactical urbanism. As tactical urbanism has been adopted in different ways in different cities, so to have the reactions of city leaders varied.
Debunking the One-Size-Fits-All Gentrification Model
Not all gentrification is alike. New research show just how different gentrification is in St. Louis as compared to Seattle or San Francisco.
Lessons for Detroit—from New Orleans
Detroit recently replaced New Orleans as the American city with the highest rate of blight. As Detroit undertakes its plans to shrink, which includes a massive blight removal campaign, what lessons from New Orleans bear repeating?
New Urban Math
To forge a coalition for urban places, let’s start by trumpeting an important fact: The value of cities and towns transcends simple arithmetic.
Philadelphia’s Middle Class—Down But Not Out
A new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts tracks the demographics of Philadelphia between 1970 and 2010. Overall, middle class residents left the city during those decades, but there are reasons for optimism regarding the prosperity of the city.
12 Strategies for Revitalizing Downtowns
Even cities without an official program for revitalizing their downtowns can take steps to transform their urban cores into a collection of vibrant places. The urbanSCALE website has collected a list of such strategies.
Questioning the Power Structure of Downtown Las Vegas’ Revitalization
Has the power and influence of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh spoiled the good intentions of the Downtown Project in Las Vegas?
Gentrification: We’re Both the Problem and the Solution
As cities become increasingly desirable, gentrification becomes increasingly prevalent. The best places moving forward will be those willing to commit the best of themselves in working together.
Mapping GDP—Urban Areas and Everything Else
An intrepid Reddit user has produced a striking visualization for the economic importance of the country’s urban areas by splitting the nation’s GDP into two—the top 50 percent and the lower 50 percent.
Minneapolis Scales Back Healthy Food Program
Minneapolis’ Healthy Corner Store Program launched with lofty ambitions in 2009—to help corner stores market and sell fresh food—but lackluster performance has required the city to reduce the scale of the program.
Detroit's Bankruptcy Plan Accelerates Blight Reduction
To drastically increase the rate of Detroit’s ongoing transformation, the city's bankruptcy plan, recently filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, would spend $520 million on its ongoing blight reduction efforts in the hopes of razing 400-500 homes a week.
Tampa Considers How to Invest $100 Million in its Downtown
With the bonds from the Tampa Convention Center to be paid off in 2015, Tampa will soon have $100 million to spend in its Downtown Community Reinvestment Area. How should the city invest in its downtown?
More Debate About 'Saving' Rust Belt Cities
The populations of at least a dozen major cities declined by more than ten percent between 2000 and 2010, including Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Detroit. How best to regenerate those “legacy cities” is a matter of no small amount of debate.
A City that Takes its Planning Seriously (or Not)
Portland is a city that's often better known by the representations of it—like the television show Portlandia—than as an actual working city.
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.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
