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
News Brief: Census 2020 Population Data
Most of the media commentary that followed last week's release of Census 2020 data focused on trends in the racial demographics of the country and the country's growing rural-urban divide.
Cities Are Back (At Least They Were Before COVID)
The 2020 Census results show that central cities were gaining population to a much greater extent than earlier Census estimates had suggested.
2020 Population Growth Rates for the 50 Biggest U.S. Cities
The Census Bureau released new data on May 27 that includes the first four months of the pandemic. Seattle tops the growth rate at 2.2% from July 1, 2019, to July 1, 2020, while Baltimore and San Francisco land at the bottom with -1.4%.
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.
Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) AmeriCorps Program
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Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
