Community / Economic Development

San Francisco's Market Street is heavily used by buses, cars, cyclists, and pedestrians alike. Officials are studying the potential effect of restricting cars either partially or completely, to make it "great once again."

February 25, 2009 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Two-thirds of people who leave prison go back within three years, and many who leave prison go back to particular urban neighborhoods. New Orleans want to spend more smartly in areas whose community life is disrupted by such a cycle.

February 25, 2009 - The Atlantic

Over a hundred boxcars have sat for about a year in an Indiana hamlet, proving to be the biggest nuisance to those who, live, and play near them. Of no use to railroad companies with nothing to ship, such rail cars now sit idle all over the country.

February 25, 2009 - The Wall Street Journal

The 2008 Summer Olympics brought a boom of construction to host city Beijing. But now, six months later, much of the office space built in the lead up to the games sits empty -- and likely will for years.

February 24, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

As the trend towards urban living grows, churches are rethinking how to approach the urban and religious. This article from a Baptist newspaper suggests that the faithful have been reading and absorbing Richard Florida.

February 24, 2009 - The Baptist Standard

The global economic downturn is hitting China's urban factories. Millions of migrant workers who had left their farms for factory work are now facing the possibility of making an urban-to-rural migration.

February 24, 2009 - The Globe and Mail

Towns and small cities dependent on one or two industries are reeling in the face of the economic downturn and major budget cuts. Can the nation's large cities be far behind?

February 24, 2009 - TomDispatch

Catherine Tumber writes in defense of the small city, long neglected in policy and revitalization, but poised to be an excellent resource for sustainable living.

February 23, 2009 - Boston Review

A look inside the real slum featured in the movie "Slumdog Millionaire". The film won 8 Oscars including Best Picture.

February 23, 2009 - The New York Times

The recession and the end of the age of fast-growth will be a good thing for Toronto, argues Christopher Hume.

February 23, 2009 - The Toronto Star

A new study of Los Angeles Business Improvement Districts shows that private security provided by BIDs has reduced crime in these areas more than in the rest of the city.

February 23, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

Forbes releases its first ever list of "America's Fastest-Changing Cities", documenting the cities that have undergone the most drastic economic shifts.

February 22, 2009 - Forbes

The Las Vegas Weekly pulls together a panel of the city's leading urban thinkers to discuss the future of development in Las Vegas, now that the downturn has brought many projects to a standstill.

February 21, 2009 - Las Vegas Weekly

In this NPR interview, Michael Replogle, Environmental Defense Fund's transportation director, points to a 12-lane highway that will be built with stimulus funds that he says exacerbates our dependence on foreign oil and global warming.

February 20, 2009 - NPR

What were the inside politics that allowed for the largest investment in high speed rail in the U.S? Politico reports on the Obama-Emanuel workings of the rail investment in the stimulus package - and no, it wasn't based on the LA to Las Vegas route.

February 20, 2009 - Politico

The Municipal Art Society wants Coney Island to be bigger and more attractive, but the developer says time-share hotels and big boxes are the key the landmark's financial sustainability.

February 19, 2009 - The New York Times

Drops in tourism and luxury car sales are among the reasons why the ritziest cities in Southern California are not impervious to the recession.

February 19, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

This piece from NPR looks at the debate over plans to use more than $7 billion from the stimulus plan to expand broadband Internet access in rural areas.

February 19, 2009 - NPR

Its history of pollution dates back to the Civil War, but 25 years after being declared a Superfund site, Woburn's Industri-plex in Massachusetts is just about cleaned up. A retail complex there has opened recently.

February 18, 2009 - The Boston Globe

Matthew Klauer had intended to build a 44-room country inn on the 27-acre plot he purchased in Washington, Connecticut. Rejected by locals, Klauer is changing the plan and building 33 small homes using an affordable housing law.

February 17, 2009 - Governing Magazine