Community / Economic Development

For Biking to Flourish, Empower the Community Boards

Tom Angotti believes that community participation and neighborhood-level planning are key to a wider network of bike infrastructure in New York City.

October 26, 2011 - Gotham Gazette

Bane of the Middle Class: Rising Gas Prices

In this Washington Post blog, Brad Plumer writes on a New American Foundation report on rising gas prices and their disproportionate impact on the poor and middle class. Public policies intended to reduce fuel consumption, however, benefit the rich.

October 25, 2011 - The Washington Post - Blogs

Despair and Hope in Occupied Rust Belt Cities

As part of an "Occupy America" tour, Arun Gupta visits Occupy protests in three rust belt cities, and finds that the economic forces that unleashed the global recession long ago stripped these cities of their economic and social fabric.

October 25, 2011 - Salon.com

Executives Told To "Pack Suitcases" For Libyan Infrastructure Boom

Tripoli Airport and Misrata hospital are the first specific projects to be named, as western governments begin to release frozen assets to the National Transition Government (NTI) and international corporations spot an opportunity.

October 25, 2011 - Building Design

The Second Coming of Marked-Down Detroit

The 2010 Census reveals that Detroit's population is approaching the 1910's level. Of the City's 714,000 residents, 83% are black and nearly 40% live in poverty. With virtually every statistic going against its favor, can Motown make a comeback?

October 23, 2011 - The Economist

Improving The Gentrification Process

Kaid Benfield argues that continues revitalization of inner city neighborhoods is essential to achieving an equitable civil society, sustainable patterns of growth and maintaining a tax base to fund civic improvements.

October 22, 2011 - The Atlantic

Housing Crisis Making Americans Ill

A new survey from the American Journal of Public Health found that people who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments are more likely to be suffering from depression.

October 21, 2011 - The Wall St. Journal

New Jersey Governor Wants to Kill Smart Growth in the State

An overhaul of the New Jersey State Plan proposed by the Governor's office would eliminate the State Plan Policy Map, which designated growth areas and conservation in the state.

October 21, 2011 - NJ Spotlight

"Creating Places for People"

That's the title of a draft report from the Australian Dept. of Infrastructure and Transport presenting model processes for creating high-quality urban environments.

October 21, 2011 - Architecture and Design

In Seattle, Feelings are Mixed on Extra Perks for "Ultra-Green" Building Standards

Under the "living building" pilot program, a handful of developments get to bypass the usual zoning for sticking to some of the most stringent building standards in the world. But one developer wants an additional 10 feet of height for it.

October 21, 2011 - The Seattle Times

Can a Canadian Company Condemn Your Land?

TransCanada is trying to use eminent domain to obtain easements from unwilling landowners for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

October 19, 2011 - The New York Times

The Megarich 1% Live in New York

Well, a good percentage of them do, with 13% of the country's 57,860 ultra high net worth individuals living in NYC.

October 19, 2011 - CNN

Portrait of a Neighborhood Razed by Robert Moses

Filmmaker Jim Epstein read "The Power Broker", the biography of Robert Moses, and set out to document one of the communities destroyed by Moses' urban renewal of the 1950s.

October 19, 2011 - MetroFocus

The "People's Library" Boosts the Occupy Wall Street Movement

As the Occupy Wall Street movement grows, it is developing into a "mini society" complete with its own forms of community and institutions, including a public library.

October 19, 2011 - City Limits

Developers in Downtown, Cleveland are Turning to the Slots to Appeal to a New Crowd

Executives of Rock Gaming LLC and its partner, Caesars Entertainment Corp, are hoping to revitalize Cleveland's downtown nightlife and create connections with nearby businesses by building Horseshoe Casino Cleveland.

October 18, 2011 - The Plain Dealer

The Challenge of City Branding

Branding a city, writes Scott Doyon, isn't as easy as creating a product brand. Cities already have identities, so a new brand can ring false if it isn't in harmony with reality. Case in point: Dunwoody, Georgia.

October 18, 2011 - Terrain.org

Why the Suburban Exodus Hasn't Happened Yet

Greg Hanscom at Grist asks, if, as polls say, so many Millennials want to live in the city, why is the downtown resurgence a trickle rather than a flood?

October 18, 2011 - Grist

Las Vegas Learns To Mow Its Own Lawn

Nevada has gone from having the lowest unemployment in the US in 2006 at 4% to the highest now at 13.4%. Once again Las Vegas is proving to be a reflection of the country's wider problems, where the top end of the market never dropped out.

October 17, 2011 - The Guardian

Innovative Public/Private Model to Revitalize a Downtown

Quincy, Massachusetts is planning to clear out 50 acres of its city center and build $1.3 billion in retail shops, offices, parking garages and more, plus $300m in new infrastructure. A new financial model is making it possible.

October 17, 2011 - Governing Magazine

A "Healthy Capacity" for Transit Manufacturing Exists in NYC

Citing the shift in economic activity at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Ginia Bellafonte makes a case for bringing transit manufacturing to this and similar areas of the city. Talent's not an issue, but financing always is.

October 16, 2011 - The New York Times

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.