Community / Economic Development

Alex Steffen, a "leading voice in planetary futurism," muses on what he believes could be a way to move beyond NIMBYism and incremental urban planning, to provide an antidote to fundamentally broken city governance.

October 2, 2012 - Planetary Thinking

An experimental plan to build a new charter city for 10 million people in Honduras has lost a key element, its expected chairman and chief founder, Paul Romer.

October 2, 2012 - The New York Times

Some cities are fighting back against the mortgage crisis, using eminent domain to seize and write down troubled mortgages, keeping homeowners in their homes and keeping local economies afloat, writes Peter S. Goodman.

October 2, 2012 - Huffington Post

As the level of sophistication in cycling infrastructure increases, the value of networks becomes even more apparent.

October 1, 2012 - PlaceShakers

Although the state's legislators were ready to move on from the closure of CA's redevelopment agencies by approving several bills designed to replace aspects of redevelopment or otherwise help cities, Governor Brown vetoed each one over the weekend.

October 1, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

With the second highest share of transit usage in the U.S., a new study three years in the making assesses the development opportunities around the New Jersey's 243 transit stations.

October 1, 2012 - The Star-Ledger

With 700 urban farms and gardens in New York City, a new report calls for a comprehensive approach to managing the city's urban agriculture, and offers recommendations for maximizing coordination between city agencies and urban farmers.

September 30, 2012 - Grist

After many, many, many failures-to-launch, Auckland may finally be taking its waterfront seriously. A series of articles in The New Zealand Herald explores the waterfront's disappointing past and promising future.

September 30, 2012 - The New Zealand Herald

During the last two decades, New York City has continued to shed manufacturing jobs. But recent efforts led by the city, in partnership with private developers, are looking to retool some of New York's largest legacy sites for a new breed of tenant.

September 30, 2012 - The New York Times

Candice Rainey chronicles the "new generation of mom and pops that has thrived in regentrified Brooklyn," and the difficulties couples have encountered in turning their passions into their professions.

September 30, 2012 - The New York Times

The centerpiece of a proposed $500 million retail and hotel project that aims to "bring new life and economic opportunity" to Staten Island, plans for the 625-foot New York Wheel were announced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg this week.

September 29, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

The rise of mobile food trucks has been heralded in many cities. Now as retail stores take to the streets, they're encountering obstacles with zoning and permitting that have befuddled their culinary brethren.

September 29, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Alex Vuocolo reports on the new model of multi-stakeholder collaboration that is bringing acclaimed public spaces, and economic growth, to the city of Philadelphia.

September 28, 2012 - Next American City

LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) hasn't exactly unleashed a flurry of new sustainable, dense development. But, as the economy strengthens, innovative projects in Oakland, Syracuse, and Milwaukee are beginning to take flight.

September 28, 2012 - Urban Land Magazine

As L.A.'s massive downtown stadium and convention center project hurtles towards final approval, the questions regarding its design and feasibility grow to a roar.

September 28, 2012 - Daily News

New Orleans is shaking its distressed-city status as an influx of investment heads to town. National retailers and developers, many of them first-time investors in the city, are looking to set up shop.

September 28, 2012 - The New York Times

Tax breaks, cheap energy, and investments in infrastructure are among the subsidies often requested of local communities by companies searching for locations for their operations. Edward Alden asks what companies owe in return.

September 27, 2012 - Renewing America

As Chicago's River North area continues its transformation, the area's historic, behemoth Merchandise Mart has become a hub for high-tech businesses. The adaptive reuse success story was the largest building in the world when it opened in 1930.

September 27, 2012 - The New York Times

Long Beach's Press Telegram explores the options for completing a 4.5-mile stretch of the Long Beach (710) Freeway connecting Alhambra to Pasadena, a controversy that's been brewing for five decades.

September 27, 2012 - Press-Telegram

Do you know the effect your spiffy new development will have on the neighbors' health? Aaron Wernham and the Kresge Foundation think you could use a health impact assessment.

September 27, 2012 - Shelterforce Magazine