Land Use

Despite cancelling the ARC Tunnel project last year, New Jersey may build an alternative tunnel using U.S. Senate funding.

November 15, 2011 - TheCityFix.com

In Ohio, officials are looking at new ways to liven up their parks. They are providing incentives for volunteers to help beautify and maintain the parks, in addition to adding new programs to attract users to frequent the parks.

November 15, 2011 - American City and Country

In Grand Rapids, a number of no-longer-needed elementary schools are being transformed into apartment buildings, while the playgrounds and sports fields are turned into city parks.

November 15, 2011 - The Grand Rapids Press

The plan to create a floating public space along the Thames is a great idea, writes critic Rowan Moore, but the proposed London River Park will suffer from its private ownership and management.

November 14, 2011 - The Guardian U.K.

Houston's third outerbelt, the Grand Parkway, continues to move forward despite an outpouring of opposition, highlighting the special, institutionalized role real estate developers play in transportation decisions in Texas, writes Angie Schmitt.

November 11, 2011 - Streetsblog Capitol Hill

In Cincinnati, voters have defeated an attempt to block the city's new streetcar, which now will move forward and could be operational as early as 2013. The new streetcar will link downtown and the uptown district around the University.

November 11, 2011 - Sustainable Cities Collective

Evelio Contreras and Philip Kennicott film the Occupy movement transforming MacPherson Square into an urban hub, in one of Washington's central nodal points.

November 11, 2011 - The Washington Post

Nebraska may play a key role regarding decision for pipeline that will run from Canada to Texas. Many businesses and labor groups support the Keystone XL project; many environmentalists oppose it.

November 11, 2011 - NPR

A neighborhood association is protesting that Stadium Club, a "steak-and-strippers" place in Washington, DC, is an adult use and against local zoning ordinances. But the Board of Zoning Adjustment decided recently that it isn't "sexually-oriented."

November 10, 2011 - Washington Citypaper

Accessory dwelling units, or in-law apartments, are gaining approval in greater numbers of communities.

November 10, 2011 - The New York Times

Even a real estate market as strong as Washington, DC has vacant land and storefronts. Regulatory burdens and business customs make finding temporary tenants difficult, even though temporary uses can enliven dead spaces and spark entrepreneurship.

November 10, 2011 - Greater Greater Washington

Under New York's Delancey Street lurks 60,000 square feet of vaulted ceilings and cobbled streets, sitting unappreciated in the dark. A group of entrepreneurs have plans to create a subterranean park there.

November 10, 2011 - This Big City

As a compromise for its presence in the community, mall developers on behalf of residents got one Costco's plans to be redrawn to look less like a, well, Costco. Rosanna Xia reports on the process.

November 10, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

In Jakarta, efforts to becoming a more livable city inspired the construction of a designated bicycle lane. The 1.5 km bike lane stretches from Ayodia Park To Blok M, but due to lack in law enforcement, bikes aren't the only ones using these lanes.

November 9, 2011 - This Big City

Buffalo, NY urban planner Chris Hawley is excited about the possibilities for his city, explaining that the Rust Belt infrastructure already in place gives Buffalo a leg up over cities built later in history.

November 9, 2011 - Next American City

Planetizen regular Chris Whitis features some stunning shots of several of the winners of our recent Top 100 Public Spaces crowdsourcing survey.

November 8, 2011 - Sitephocus

The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opens next Friday in Bentonville, Arkansas, and Holly Finn says "sophisticates" who gripe that the collection should be less remote and more accessible are elitist.

November 8, 2011 - The Wall St. Journal

Op-ed columnist Andrew Ross notes that while some progressive cities are being lauded for sustainable, green design, most American cities struggle to achieve sustainable results that are available to all residents.

November 8, 2011 - The New York Times

Elizabeth Currid-Halkett examins the viability of arts driven urban revitalization and finds that the strongest predictor of success is the nature of the art being produced and exhibited in the neighborhood.

November 7, 2011 - The New York Times

A return to community focused development is changing the design of neighborhoods across the country. Leon Kaye explains how the Mountain View Co-Housing's 19 new condos could provide a model for other cities.

November 7, 2011 - The Guardian