Community / Economic Development

Kaid Benfield brings attention to HUD's new Sustainable Communities Resource Center website, which provides best practices case studies and other information resources.

February 19, 2012 - Switchboard

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?

February 18, 2012 - Good

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.

February 17, 2012 - UT San Diego

As Cleveland takes on yet another effort in "rebranding", Richey Piiparinen looks at past schemes and finds it's better to keep it real.

February 16, 2012 - Rust Wire

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.

February 15, 2012 - PlaceShakers

Chuck Wolfe uses the urban scale adaptive reuse of the Roman Emperor Diocletian's retirement palace in Split, Croatia to argue for blending the past and future on a broader scale.

February 8, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Sarah Laskow reports on a new study by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) that seeks to rethink how affordable housing is defined to incorporate transportation costs.

February 7, 2012 - Good

President Obama's multi-billion dollar proposal to help homeowners involves providing them refinanced, government-backed loans. The plan is not without its doubters, however.

February 7, 2012 - PBS NewsHour

Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson raises the issue that there are not enough minorities representing the communities that planners and designers strive to make better.

February 7, 2012 - Grist

The day after the big game, Diana Lind, with the help of a Planet Money Podcast, delves into the economic ramifications of hosting a super bowl, and wonders whether Indianapolis might not turn out to be the night's biggest loser.

February 6, 2012 - Next American City

The redevelopment postmortem continues with a look at five projects that demonstrate the ways in which the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) strayed from its core mission.

February 3, 2012 - Neon Tommy

Writer Tara Sturm explores the merits of incremental urbanism on revitalization efforts with the help of L.A. architect Alan Pullman, highlighting grassroots, community-driven economic development.

February 3, 2012 - Buildipedia.com

With no last minute pardons granted, yesterday marked the official dissolution date for California's 400-plus redevelopment agencies. Curbed LA has gathered the essential readings to guide you through the 'developments' at the state and local levels.

February 2, 2012 - Curbed LA

Yesterday, Michelle Obama visited the site of a new grocery store in an impoverished section of Los Angeles to highlight her work in spearheading efforts to improve access to fresh foods and reduce obesity across the country.

February 2, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

A year after Gov. Jerry Brown announced his intent to kill redevelopment and repatriate billions of dollars in tax monies that go to local agencies, the day of reckoning has finally come. Over 400 agencies officially shut down on Feb. 1.

February 2, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

Is it justified to believe that a proposed SoHo business improvement district, widely embraced elsewhere in the city, would only attract more hordes of visitors and non-residents? Proponents say that residents are fear-mongering.

January 30, 2012 - The New York Times

In an effort to seek an 11th hour reprieve from the scheduled elimination of the state's redevelopment agencies, two consortiums of cities have filed lawsuits in Sacramento Superior Court, reports Josh Stephens.

January 27, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

Ariel Schwartz writes about Popuphood, a project aiming to dramatically revitalize the Old Oakland neighborhood by offering six months of free rent to five retail establishments on one block.

January 27, 2012 - Fast Company Co.Exist

States across the country are expanding legalization of commercial casinos in what many frame as a no-lose proposition. Writing in The New York Times, Paul Davies makes the case against the expansion of casinos in New York State.

January 24, 2012 - The New York Times

When a building in blighted Highland Park, Michigan was demolished, a painted advertisement on the adjacent building was revealed. Nearby, other ghost ads remain, "nearly as bright" as ever. Dan Berry reports on why we're so fascinated by them.

January 24, 2012 - The New York Times