The American Planning Association's annual list celebrates the best urban planning and design from around the country.
The American Planning Association has announced its 2017 Great Places in America. The Great Places award acknowledged five winners each in three categories—Great Neighborhoods, Public Spaces, and Great Streets.
Information about each of the 2017 winners is available on the APA's website, and all day long news has been flowing in from news outlets celebrating the acknowledgement of places in their area. Here's a roundup of local news stories covering the awards as of this writing:
Great Neighborhoods
Over-the-Rhine (Cincinnati)
OTR Named One Of 15 Great Places In America
OTR recognized as one of five "Great Neighborhoods'' in America by the American Planning Assn.
Seward (Minneapolis)
Minneapolis neighborhood named one of 2017's 'Great Places in America'
Seward Named Among Greatest Neighborhoods In U.S.
Pearl (San Antonio)
Pearl makes “Great Places in America” list
Uptown Greenwood (Greenwood)
Uptown Greenwood named one of America's great neighborhoods
Public Spaces
The County Home Complex (Pitt County)
Pitt County’s County Home Complex ranks in APA’s top five Great Public Spaces
Market Square (Knoxville)
Market Square named one of 15 Great Places in America by American Planning Association
Great Streets
Lincoln Avenue and Giddings Plaza (Chicago)
Lincoln Square Named A 'Great Place' In America: Well, Duh
South Grand Boulevard (St. Louis)
South Grand designated 'Great Street in America'
FULL STORY: Great Places in America
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Significant Investments Needed to Protect LA County Residents From Climate Hazards
A new study estimates that LA County must invest billions of dollars before 2040 to protect residents from extreme heat, increasing precipitation, worsening wildfires, rising sea levels, and climate-induced public health threats.
Federal Rule Raises Cost for Oil and Gas Extraction on Public Lands
An update to federal regulations raises minimum bonding to limit orphaned wells and ensure cleanup costs are covered — but it still may not be enough to mitigate the damages caused by oil and gas drilling.
Opinion: Criminalizing Homelessness Is ‘Expensive and Shortsighted’
Policies that punish and fine unhoused people for sheltering outdoors, even when other shelter is not available, are the most visible but least efficient ways to reduce homelessness.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
City of Laramie, Wyoming
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