Community / Economic Development

U.S. Capital

Senate Will Vote to Repeal OSHA's Vax-or-Test COVID Rule

Senate Republicans will target the Biden administration's private employer vaccine-or-test mandate using a law they successfully employed during the beginning of the Trump administration to recall a slew of environmental regulations.

December 8, 2021 - FOX News

Minneapolis, Minnesota

An 'Explosion' of Investor-Owned Homes in Minneapolis' Low-Income Neighborhoods

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has noticed an alarming spike in investor-owned homes in Minneapolis since the Great Recession.

December 8, 2021 - Marketwatch

Tidal flooding at Brickell Bay Drive and 12 Street, Downtown Miami

Voluntary Collaboration for Adaptive Governance: The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact

This is an updated version of a blog post published at the Conversation by Karen Vella and William Butler. Both are associate professors at Queensland University of Technology and Florida State University, respectively.

December 7, 2021 - JPER

Bentonville, AR Central Avenue at night

Opinion: Northwest Arkansas Could Be the 'Next Austin'

The home of Walmart and the University of Arkansas could be poised to see growth as cities like Austin and Boise become less affordable.

December 5, 2021 - Bloomberg Opinion

A Metro Los Angeles bus driver is behind the wheel while wearing a mask.

Equity and Transit Go Hand in Hand for the Pandemic Recovery

Equity illuminates the light at the end of the tunnel for U.S. transit agencies, according to a recent report by the Urban Institute.

December 3, 2021 - Urban Institute

California Homeless

Study: At Least 1,500 Unhoused Died on the Streets of L.A. During the Pandemic

New research represents the first detailed picture of death among people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic.

December 2, 2021 - The Guardian

A mile marker showing mile zero of the Great Allegheny Passage, which is a bike and pedestrian path that begins in Cumberland, Maryland and ends in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Measuring the Economic Impact of the Great Allegheny Passage

Small communities once dependent on coal, coke, paper, lumber, and manufacturing now have a 150-mile bike and pedestrian path contributing to the local economy.

December 2, 2021 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Houston, Texas

Houston Could End Homelessness With Less Than 2,000 Housing Units

Houston's homeless response program has yielded strong results in the last few years. Just 1,900 new affordable housing units could 'effectively end' homelessness in the city.

December 2, 2021 - Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research

A movie studio buildiing located in Old Toronto's Port Lands is fenced off from the sidewalk and protected by a security guard station.

Are Movie Studios 'Highest and Best Use' During a Housing Affordability Crisis?

Toronto's answer to the question posed in the headline is, "yes." One columnist wonders if the city can do more to balance its priorities.

December 2, 2021 - Toronto Star

A man passes by a store in an empty mall. A sign in the window of the store reads "Covid-19 Essentials."

Downtown Foot Traffic Recovering Slowly, Report Says

Pedestrian activity in U.S. downtowns is still way down compared to pre-Covid levels, but the numbers are ticking back up month by month.

December 1, 2021 - Globe St.

A sign on a door says proof of vaccine is required to enter.

Another Biden COVID Vaccine Mandate on Hold

Last month, a court stayed Biden's large private employer mandate that requires workers to be vaccinated or test-and-mask. On Tuesday, a federal district court judge stayed the vaccine mandate that applies nationwide to most health care workers.

December 1, 2021 - The New York Times

Austin Traffic

Austin Becoming Least Affordable City Outside California

The Texas capital, once one of the most affordable metro areas, is experiencing a housing affordability crisis as median prices soar and longtime residents face displacement.

December 1, 2021 - The New York Times

View of Wrigleyville neighborhood before a Chicago Cubs game

New Development Continues in Wrigleyville

New mixed-use projects bring residential units, retail, and entertainment venues to the neighborhood surrounding Chicago's Wrigley Field as stadium-adjacent development grows in popularity.

December 1, 2021 - The Architect's Newspaper

Moving

Urban Exodus: Data Don't Support the Popular Pandemic Narrative

Americans fled cities in waves during the pandemic, right? Not to so fast.

November 30, 2021 - Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University

An image showing a smart phone with information from the World Health Organization about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Omicron Variant: No Good Science Goes Unpunished

The discovery by South African scientists will enable the world to prepare for the newest coronavirus variant, but it will also cause enormous hardship due to the travel restrictions on flights to/from eight nations in southern Africa.

November 30, 2021 - The New York Times

Nigeria

Urban Development in African Cities

Rising populations and political challenges complicate the future development of Africa's major metropolitan centers.

November 30, 2021 - The Washington Post

San Francisco Street

Reimagining San Francisco for the Post-COVID Era

A San Francisco nonprofit is developing a set of recommendations for making downtown neighborhoods more flexible and welcoming to a more diverse set of users.

November 30, 2021 - Smart Cities Dive

HUD

Opinion: The Housing Crisis Isn't Going Away With the Pandemic

As the housing crisis rages on, the housing assistance infrastructure put in place during the pandemic can provide a model for long-term aid programs.

November 30, 2021 - Governing

Eviction Crisis

Dissecting the Eviction Crisis

Attention to the human and economic costs of evictions predate the pandemic, but the economic disruption of the past two years has increased the need for better tools to measure and respond to evictions.

November 29, 2021 - National League Of Cities

pallets of green oil barrels stacked

Biden Orders Release from Strategic Petroleum Reserve: What's the Emergency?

The purpose of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is to maintain oil flow to refineries during national emergencies when oil supplies are disrupted. What national emergency prompted President Biden to order the release of 50 million barrels?

November 29, 2021 - CNBC

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.