Community / Economic Development
Battle Over Gentrification Rages In Los Angeles
A recent op-ed in the Los Angeles Times outlines the issues around "gentrification" using the city's recent wave of downtown redevelopment as a case study.
Chicago Passes Landmark Minimum Wage Ordinance
Chicago's City Council passed a landmark ordinance yesterday that requires big-box stores to pay a minimum wage of $10 per hour by 2010 plus $3 an hour worth of benefits.
Gary, Indiana Struggles To Overcome Industrial Decline
As the city celebrates its 100th birthday, officials and residents share their hopes for the future, even as the population continues to decline.
Court Rules Against Taking Homes For Economic Development
The Ohio Supreme Court has sided with homeowners in the latest case over property rights.
Oregon's Property Rights Law Is Being Tested By Landowners
Measure 37, Oregon's landmark property rights law, is set to transform a state renowned for its rigid land use policies designed to preserve forests and farms while containing cities, much to the disappointment of the state's planners.
Three U.S. Cities Are 2016 Olympics Hopefuls
With the United States expected to have a good chance of winning the Summer Olympics in 2016, three iconic U.S. cities are vying for the privilege of hosting the games.
New Orleans 'Looking More and More like Baghdad'
With its neighborhoods filled with vacant buildings, its water utility leaking 85 million gallons a day, and no real federal assistance in evidence, some feel that New Orleans has been "gutted."
Redesigning Cities For Change
How do we redesign cities to meet the needs of a changing world? Anupam Saraph poses questions for Mumbai's planners.
L.A.'s Housing Authority Tackles Public Housing's Bad Image
HUD's Los Angeles Housing Authority is replacing its older, "oppressive", public housing stock with friendlier, mixed-income complexes to ease the city's housing crisis.
Minnesota Suburb Divided Over New Urban Plan
A suburban town just west of Minneapolis is debating a plan to bring a bit of New Urbanism into a proposed housing development that would otherwise just be houses. The planned mixed use development has enticed some residents and worried others.
Chain Restaurants Change Philadelphia'sCharacter
National restaurant chains moving into Philadelphia’s Center City are changing the character and landscape of the historic area.
The Power Of Participatory Budgeting
An experiment in Ontario, Canada has ordinary residents meeting regularly to decide how government funds are spent on playgrounds, health clinics and adult education.
Welcome to the 'Urban Century'
To coincide with the World Urban Forum, the Ottawa Citizen devotes most of their Sunday, June 18th newspaper to covering a host of urban issues, including slums, urban gardening, and the case for and against cities [links to 9 articles].
Funding Hub Cities Boosts Overall Economy
Echoing Jane Jacobs' 2001 call for a "new fiscal deal" for Canada's cities, a new report recommends that more strategically-targeted investments can produce more economic benefits than the current per-capita formula.
Baltimore Headed For A Housing Shortfall
The slow reaction to job growth in many Maryland counties jobs may lead to a critical housing shortage.
The Growth of the Aerotropolis, Or Airport City
As global competition increases, mega airports are becoming more prevalent, and more important. From Dubai to Hong Kong to Bangkok to India, these emerging 'airport cities', or 'aerotropolis' are being designed as the center of new urban regions.
The Disappearing Urban Middle Class
As major cities around the country prosper, rich and poor neighborhoods are growing, while the middle class is increasingly left out.
Reinventing Cities With Transformative Investments
Bruce Katz, Vice President and Director of The Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, outlines how cities can harness demographic, cultural and economic changes to successfully transform themselves into viable places to live and work.
Las Vegas: The Destination For Aging Boomers
Nevada is experiencing an influx of new retirees and trying to cope with the surge of sexagenarians.
Bay Area Ends Free Transit Experiment
A popular and successful experiment to boost ridership on 26 Bay Area transit systems on designated "Spare the Air" days ends due to lack of funding, while some believe the plan may have been good for the local economy.
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association
