Community / Economic Development
Using Artistic Exploration to Guide Planning Processes
Rebecca Sanborn Stone profiles several innovative communities that are utilizing citizen-guided art projects to communicate values and ideas, break down barriers, and guide planning efforts.
Will Wal-Mart Chase the Cool out of Athens, GA?
In the controversy over a new development planned for downtown Athens, the chain retailer seems to be a Trojan horse for a larger debate about economic development and who gets to define what is best for a community.
Bringing Crowdfunding to Our Backyards
Michael J. Coren shines a light on an innovative crowdfunding site targeting neighborhood improvements.
Baltimore's Strategic Ignorance of Its Abandoned Homes
Yepoka Yeebo reports on Baltimore's newest plan to deal with the tens of thousands of abandoned houses that mar the city.
Why Detroit Was Cursed from the Start
Detroit native Pete Saunders makes the case that poor planning put the nail in Motown's casket.
City Puts an End to Guerrilla "Walk Raleigh" Campaign
A widely publicized guerrilla wayfinding campaign meant to give helpful guidance and encouragement to those exploring the city of Raleigh on foot has been quashed by the City Planning Director, report Chelsea Kellner and Bruce Siceloff.
In California, Assessing the Obstacles to Redevelopment 2.0
Continuing their excellent coverage of the twists and turns in the California redevelopment saga, CP&DR have run two articles this week providing updates on efforts to navigate a path forward for redevelopment.
The Once and Future Urbanism of Sandwich Boards
Chuck Wolfe traces the comeback of sandwich board signage in cities, explains how associated regulations work, and offers reasons why such signage should be carefully fostered.
The Hipster States of America
Writing from Austin, Texas, one of the current centers for hipster culture in the U.S., Lauren Modery proposes a list of the next cities she believes are ripe for an explosion of old-timey facial hair, geeky eyewear, and overall hipsterfication.
A European Model for Suburban Retrofitting
Kaid Benfield revisits the results of a plan to revitalize the town center of Plessis-Robinson, a suburb of Paris, with the suggestion that its success could inform similar efforts in the United States.
Pop-up Street Libraries Appear in New York
John Metcalfe reports on efforts by one New York architect to utilize the city's ubiquitous pay telephone booths as the settings for pop-up libraries.
How Post Office Closings Will Be Harmful to Rural Health
Cezary Podkul and Emily Stephenson examine the likely economic and social consequences of efforts by the U.S. Postal Service to close thousands of rural post offices this year.
Reconciling Redevelopment With a Salacious Past
In Kansas City, the historic home of jazz and Prohibition-era excess struggles with a redevelopment effort that attempts to build on that era's history while leaving behind some of its essential characteristics, writes Brandon R. Reynolds.
A New Arena is Coming to Brooklyn, But What's Next?
As a new basketball arena takes shape at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues in Brooklyn, Neil deMause investigates what is next for the controversial, and much changed, Atlantic Yards project.
New Tool for Building Sustainable Communities Debuts
Kaid Benfield brings attention to HUD's new Sustainable Communities Resource Center website, which provides best practices case studies and other information resources.
Revilatization Through Graphic Design
Zak Stone reports on a campaign in Chattanooga, Tennessee to distill the city's artistic and entrepreneurial spirit into a font, and asks the question - can a font help a city make a comeback?
Downturn Proves Resiliency of Smart Growth
In an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Geoffrey Anderson and Bill Fulton reflect on the new normal for development across the country, which astonishingly to anyone looking back twenty years, has absorbed Smart Growth principles.
On the Ethos of City Branding: Or, Trying versus Being
As Cleveland takes on yet another effort in "rebranding", Richey Piiparinen looks at past schemes and finds it's better to keep it real.
Financing Post-Recession Development
Building in the New Economy isn't business as usual. Howard Blackson lays out policy, planning, land assembly and financing tools to help us with our task at hand.
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.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie
