The New York Times is calling 2010 to 2020 the "Downtown Decade."

"The recent 2020 census data confirmed earlier estimates that urban counties grew slower than suburban ones over the past decade," writes Jed Kolko. "But more detailed neighborhood census counts reveal that U.S. population density actually rose in the past decade after falling in the previous two decades, a result of faster growth in the most concentrated parts of urban counties."
The fastest-growing neighborhoods were located on the edges of metropolitan areas, explains Kolko. But many downtowns and central business districts grew quickly too. Adding up all the growth, "Americans were more likely to live in the highest-density urban neighborhoods in 2020 than in 1990, 2000 or 2010."
Kolko provides additional insight into the weighted-density measures for neighborhood-level Census data (which are "less skewed by unpopulated land area than conventional density measures," explains Kolko), such as the surprising number of U.S. cities thought of as car oriented appearing in the top 15 of densest cities in the United States (namely, Miami, San José, and Las Vegas).
FULL STORY: The Downtown Decade: U.S. Population Density Rose in the 2010s

Red Cities, Blue Cities, and Crime
Homicides rose across the nation in 2020 and 2021. But did they rise equally in all cities, or was the situation worse in some than in others?

The Shifting Boomer Bulge: More Bad News for America’s Housing Crisis?
In the first of a two-part series, PlaceMakers’ Ben Brown interviews housing guru Arthur C. Nelson on the sweeping demographic changes complicating the housing market.

A Serious Critique of Congestion Costs and Induced Vehicle Travel Impacts
Some highway advocates continue to claim that roadway expansions are justified to reduce traffic congestion. That's not what the research shows. It's time to stop obsessing over congestion and instead strive for efficient accessibility.

IPCC Report: The World Is Running Out of Time on Climate Change
The planet is not doing enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recent report published by the United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Skyline-Defining High-Rise Potentially Coming to Boise
A rendering making the rounds in Boise depicts a 40-story apartment building that would be taller than all other buildings in one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.

Buttigieg: Tesla ‘Autopilot’ Marketing ‘A Concern’
The USDOT secretary says marketing doesn’t fall under his department’s investigative authority, but expressed disapproval of language that implies autonomous operation.
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