Community / Economic Development
The Chorus of 'No Planning, Please' is Making My Head Hurt
Life is hard. So are baseball, soccer, and a bunch of other stuff that require making good enough guesses to size opportunities and duck calamity. With apologies from Ben Brown for beating up on David Brooks.
New Jersey Communities Build Coalition to Track Abandoned Properties
The residents of Camden County in New Jersey, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, banded together to catalog the abandoned properties in their neighborhoods, where the problem of abandoned, or "zombie" properties, is growing.
Inside Baltimore's City Farms Program
Baltimore's urban gardening program dates back to 1978. A recent article details how the program works and the opportunity presented by a recent expansion to a new kind of property.
Study: Inherent Flaws in Community Development Responses to Foreclosure Crisis
A new study by Laura Wolf-Powers at the University of Pennsylvania finds inherent conflict in the three varieties of response by community development practitioners to the foreclosure crisis.
The Perils of Whimsy: Bookshelf Reveals Community Dysfunction
A small town in Kansas exposed itself to ridicule not so long ago with their crack-down on a Little Free Library. Their problem goes a good bit deeper than clunky enforcement.
Study Finds Evidence of 'Nationwide Gentrification'
A new study finds that economic inequality is a national problem, evidenced by the access of college educated residents to quality of life indicators in cities all over the country—not just San Francisco, New York, and Boston.
State, Local Governments Clash over Highway Planning
A clash between transportation planning mentalities is playing out in Milwaukee over a proposed highway expansion—on one side the car-centric concerns of the state; on the other, the placemaking concerns of the city.
Fences Make Bad Neighbors in Hamden, Connecticut
The ugly story of the fence between a public housing community called New Haven and the nearby "middle class" community of Hamden, Connecticut will soon be over, but not because Hamden suddenly gained enlightenment.
Bakken Oil Boom Straining Rural Communities
Joe Eaton reports from Bainville, Montana, which is suffering the effects of the Bakken oil boom, although the majority of the Bakken wells, and its corresponding tax revenue, are in North Dakota.
Study: Job-Poaching Tax Incentives Do More Harm than Good
Nathan Jensen, a political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis, has found evidence that one of the most popular strategies for state and local leaders to attract new business does not pay off.
Building 'Mixed-Use Industrial' to Spur Economic Development
Ilana Preuss writes for Smart Growth America about the opportunity to integrate small-scale industrial uses into development—what's called mixed-use industrial real estate.
Design, Engineering, and Construction Firms Hiring in New York Building Boom
Mark Fahey cites data from Crain's and the New York Building Congress showing that New York City's improving economy has percolated big numbers of hires through all levels of the building industry.
Celebrating Public Art: Chicago in the Summer
What's better than a great plaza in the summer? Some compelling public art to go along with it.
Detroit Reaping Economic Development Benefits from Urban Farming
Urban farming has taken root as Detroit transforms. Now, farmers and entrepreneurs must continue to find new ways to profit from the city's new farming business model.
Baltimore Launches 'Anchor Plan' for Partnerships with Colleges and Hospitals
The city of Baltimore, led by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, has launched "The Baltimore City Anchor Plan"—a plan that prioritizes strategic partnerships with the city's "eds and meds" sector.
Operate Parks Like a Business
Mindy Craig makes the case for an evolution in the management of parks in an era of shrinking general fund allocations.
What Makes a 'Farmers' Market?'
What constitutes a farmers' market, rather than an outdoor or public market?
America the Brewery-ful
Many communities around the country have welcomed breweries for their economic development and placemaking potential. Recent data from the U.S. Economic Census shows just how much the beer industry is growing.
Planning 'Beyond Blight' in Flint, Michigan
Luke Telendar updates the planning efforts of Flint, Michigan, which earlier this year released its first new master plan since 1960, "Imagine Flint," and has more recently released a blight
Ranking the Cities Leading the Industrial Revival
Forbes has produced a list of 'The Big Cities Leading A U.S. Manufacturing Revival.'
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.
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
