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 will be redeveloped into 43 market-rate apartments. Has technology made location irrelevant?
"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."
...hat's happening in the South is part of a national trend that can be seen in cities as different as Bangor, Maine, and St. Charles, Ill., said Kent Robertson, professor of community studies at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota who has written extensively about redevelopment in smaller cities.
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
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.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
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
Town of Zionsville
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