Land Use

How should the D.C. area handle its explosive growth? Columnist Steven Pearlstein has some ideas.

March 21, 2006 - The Washington Post

With good land hard to find, developers are cashing in: on strangely configured sites. Think of a trapezoidal house, a 35-foot-wide golfer's retreat and a 'cow's face' plot.

March 19, 2006 - Wall Street Journal / Real Estate Journal

Parking requirements can overwhelm a housing development, particularly an affordable one. Design Advisor offers several design ideas to help reduce the impact of parking on development and your residents. [Includes photos and examples.]

March 17, 2006 - Affordable Housing Design Advisor

NorthWest Crossing employs design principles such as a grid of interconnected narrow streets, a mix of architectural styles, and shops, pocket parks, and schools within walking distance of most homes.

March 17, 2006 - Terrain.org - A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments

Former EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman touts smart growth in Indiana.

March 15, 2006 - The Courier-Journal

40 years after the height of urban renewal, politics and real estate market swings have caused a prime 13-acre oceanfront parcel to remain vacant in Hull, Massachusetts. What gives?

March 15, 2006 - The Boston Globe

As California's housing boom continues, finding sufficient land to enable businesses to expand is becoming increasingly challenging. The potential impacts on California's economy will be dramatic.

March 14, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

In San Diego's new downtown plan, population would soar to 90,000 and employment to 170,000 in a smart growth scheme that includes many new parks and neighborhood centers.

March 14, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune

With few restrictions imposed by land use plans, northeast Los Angeles has been like the Wild West for developers. That may be about to change.

March 13, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

March 13, 2006 - Michael Lewyn

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom vetoes the planning department's plan to reduce parking requirements in San Francisco's downtown (C-3) district.

March 12, 2006 - San Francisco Sentinel

A new book ponders the state of the Everglades after decades of urban encroachment, and how we may restore them to their natural splendor.

March 12, 2006 - The New Republic

A rise of new money and power groups in China has widened the gap between rich and poor, urban and rural.

March 9, 2006 - The Christian Science Monitor

India's Supreme Court has approved the controversial sale of prime government-owned land in the heart of the financial capital, Mumbai.

March 9, 2006 - BBC News

Bentonville, Ark., is the home of Wal-Mart and an "A-list destination for top executives." The economic power of of the County is belied by its rural history, although that is changing as it hurtles "rapidly toward an urban renaissance."

March 8, 2006 - The Wall Street Journal

Property rights advocates clash with those who seek to preserve open space over some of Los Angeles last undeveloped land.

March 8, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

Measure 37 dramatically altered the planning and development landscape in Oregon. Now community-based environmental planning may be the only alternative for environmentalists.

March 8, 2006 - The Oregonian

Quebec publishes a best practices guide for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and land use planning.

March 6, 2006 - Quebec Government

Santa Barbara, CA's strong growth controls have kept the region spectacular and maintained a high quality of life, but the control has come with steep economic and social costs, according to a feature article in the Los Angeles Times.

March 6, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

Tesco, the world's fifth-largest retailer, is coming to California -- and with its 546 Tesco Express stores in the UK taking up as much land as just six Wal-Mart supercenters, it could bring a new model of retail land use with it.

March 6, 2006 - Slate