Community / Economic Development

The economy is up 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, thanks in large part to government subsidies for car and home buying. Otherwise, the impact of the stimulus has been muted, says The Washington Times.

November 1, 2009 - The Washington Times

A Des Moines venture capitalist and his wife have donated a reported $40 million worth of large public sculptures for a sculpture park, part of a significant redevelopment effort by the city.

November 1, 2009 - The New York Times

The Friend Convalescent Hospital was the first of Walter Gropius' modernist buildings to be destroyed at Chicago's Michael Reese hospital. Bulldozing began on Wednesday with more still to go.

October 31, 2009 - The Chicago Tribune

SMA Solar Technology AG, the German company responsible for about 40 percent of the world's solar market will be opening a plant in Denver.

October 30, 2009 - The Denver Post

NYC's Mayor Bloomberg oversaw the rezoning of thousands of blocks, yet many of the development projects he envisioned as the key to the city's future success are now stalled or in jeopardy.

October 29, 2009 - The New York Times

Liquor stores and religious uses are the only building markets staying afloat in Florida, say experts.

October 29, 2009 - New Geography

Affordable space, city incentives, and good transport are bringing Oakland, CA back to its roots as a center of the food processing industry.

October 28, 2009 - San Francisco Chronicle

With closed borders and a military lockdown on all imports and exports, the Palestinians of Gaza rely on a network of smuggling tunnels to obtain goods.

October 28, 2009 - Time

Extensive investments in rail are slashing travel times in China, and creating a vastly more connected and accessible country.

October 27, 2009 - Newsweek

A collection of non-profits working with HUD is promising to spend $4 billion on updating affordable housing across the country to be more sustainable.

October 27, 2009 - Grist

Jacobs' ideas about urban planning bumped her to the top of her Top Urban Thinkers list, but economists are turning to her other books to rethink local economies.

October 26, 2009 - Miller-McCune

What does Main Street America look like today? A journalist, a public radio producer, and two Harvard PhD students set out to visit actual Main Streets across the country to find out.

October 26, 2009 - WorldChanging

2009 is expected to turn out as a bad year for residential constructoin in New York City. After five consecutive years with more than 30,000 units constructed, at total of 6,300 are expected this year.

October 26, 2009 - The New York Times

American cities are struggling to figure out how to transition formerly industrial areas to become vibrant and successful parts of the city once again. Neal Peirce says they should look to Barcelona, which accomplished it ten years ago.

October 26, 2009 - Citiwire

The problems facing urban America can be exemplified by looking at the city of Las Vegas, according to this piece from the Brookings Institution's Mark Muro.

October 25, 2009 - Citiwire

Developers and NYC's Mayor Bloomberg have hit a speed bump in revitalizing the Gowanus Canal. It may be designated as a Superfund site.

October 23, 2009 - The New York Times

Global corporations like Frito Lay and Barnes and Noble are attempting to co-opt the word 'local' into their branding.

October 21, 2009 - Utne Reader

Cities along the Hudson River in New York are pushing plans to build more docks along the waterfront.

October 20, 2009 - The New York Times

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that the first year of the recession has taken a harsh toll and that these impacts are being particularly felt in three key regions in the country.

October 20, 2009 - ABC

Japan wants to end its spending on wasteful construction projects, which are the cause of the country's massive debt. But for one small town on the verge of losing a dam, the "wasteful" project is the center of the local economy.

October 19, 2009 - The New York Times