Even humble burgs like Mount Airy, N.C., inspiration for Mayberry on the "Andy Griffith Show," are experiencing the trend. A local tobacco warehouse there is slated to be redeveloped into 43 market-rate apartments.
"The change is driven by consumer tastes that nowadays filter down from New York to Marion, Ala., in the time it takes to boot up a laptop. In an age when Netflix, Young Jeezy ringtones and MTV are just a keystroke, finger tap or satellite dish connection away, the South has become virtually a boondocks-free territory. Small and midsized towns see the effects, with pieces of them more like Manhattan than Mayberry."
Whether it's midsized cities like Greenville, S.C., with a downtown population expected to reach 4,500 in the year 2009, or "fading cotton towns" like Greenwood, MS, old warehouse-style buildings in historic downtowns are being converted into hip, urbane apartments and condos.
Also contributing to the trend "is the boom in bigger cities like Charlotte, Nashville and Birmingham, where rising congestion and real estate prices have people moving to what once were rural microdots. Many of these exiles bring their big-city consumer habits with them."
FULL STORY: Now South: Lofts, lattes in Mayberry
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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.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions