After years of boom-and-bust economic see-sawing, the city of Anchorage, Alaska, is showing signs of steady growth and economic stability.
"In a city where fashion has always played a distant second to staying warm, a cluster of boutiques in the budding 'SoNo' district, south of Nordstrom, does a brisk business in $50 lotions and $180 designer jeans - just one of many signs that this once unruly oil-boom town has been tamed."
"Strip malls replace strip clubs, big-box stores draw more customers than bars and residential neighborhoods have supplanted RV parks that once sprawled across the state's most populous city."
"The years of oil-fueled booms and busts have given way to two decades of steady growth, as Anchorage's economy has expanded to include burgeoning retail, health-care and tourist industries. Since the mid-1990s, its air-cargo hub has become one of the three largest in the world."
Read the full story: Wildlife in growing Anchorage likely to sport designer coat
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
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Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
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The Architects Foundation
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