Witold Rybczynski wrote <em>The Last Harvest</em> about a new development being created in an exurban cornfield. NPR visits the half-finished community with Witold, which is suffering from the economic crisis.
"In the parts of New Daleville that are finished, there are signs that the residents are adapting to a more modest vision.
Original house plans in the development called for elegant brick facades, in what is called the neo-traditional style - think porches and sidewalks. Instead, almost every home buyer chooses vinyl siding, because it's cheaper.
Recent retirees Diane and Paul Roberts relish the sense of country life they get in New Daleville. They sometimes see ducks flying overhead. Still, exurban life isn't convenient. There is no nearby store, and the space New Daleville's developers planned for a coffee shop or ice cream parlor is still a vacant lot.
"When you have to go four miles to get a carton of milk, that's rural!" Diane Roberts said."
FULL STORY: The Exurbs: Houses, Cornfields — And Empty Lots
Homebuyers Return to the Exurbs
It's been a while since 2008, and a new crop of homeowners is colonizing the far-flung exurbs. Mostly foreclosed and even abandoned last time around, the exurbs are still a risky buy.
Exurbs Hit Hard by Housing Crisis
Exurban developments are struggling to control their rampant foreclosure rates and plummeting housing values.
'Slumburbia': Exurban Decay Spurred By Mortgage Crisis
The mortgage crisis is devastating many communities far from urban centers, while 'inner cities', regionally speaking, are weathering the financial storm far better thanks to their urban form that makes them attractive to those that can afford them.
Phase 1 Revealed for $20 Billion Chicago Megaproject
Plans for One Central, a proposed megadevelopment that would add 22.3 million square feet of buildings to the city of Chicago, are taking shape.
Top Websites for Urban Planning – 2021
Planetizen's annual list of the best of the urban planning Internet.
Survey: What Mobile Apps Are Most Useful for Planning in 2021?
Planetizen is requesting your input in creating the definitive list of mobile apps for professional, student, academic, or citizen planners—updated for a planning profession forever altered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
TischlerBise, Inc.
Getty Conservation Institute
University of Calgary
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Symbium
Rowan University's Department of Geography, Planning, & Sustainability
City Of Oakland
Hillsborough County Public Schools
City of Raleigh
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