Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne offers a take on Las Vegas' new CityCenter mega project, highlighting the project's faux-urbanism and what in the end is disappointingly conservative architecture.
"If CityCenter represents a final bender for Wall Street's decade of unreason -- and since this after all is Las Vegas -- it might at least have pursued a wilder, more inventive and more entertaining kind of architectural gigantism. Given MGM's declarations all along that this was going to be the first truly high-design development on the Strip, it's tough not to wander through the place and think – even if it's purely an architecture-lover's fantasy -- about what might have been if a really rip-roaring group of firms, one with a collective taste for scale, color, irony and abandon, had been allowed to drain that $8.5 billion budget."
FULL STORY: In Las Vegas, one final echo of the boom years
Seattle Legalizes Co-Living
A new state law requires all Washington cities to allow co-living facilities in areas zoned for multifamily housing.
Central Florida’s SunRail Plans Major Expansion
The expanded train line will connect more destinations to the international airport and other important destinations.
Las Vegas Golf Course to Become Over 1,000 Units of Affordable Housing
The project is part of an initiative to build affordable housing on shuttered golf courses.
Montreal Bike Share Breaks Ridership Record With 13 Million Rides
The Bixi system introduced a winter pilot project last year, leading to a rise in winter cycling.
Plugging the Gap: Taxpayers Shoulder the Burden of Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells
Taxpayers, federal agencies, and tribal governments are working to address Arizona's orphaned oil and gas wells, which pose environmental and health risks, while advocates call for greater accountability from oil and gas companies.
Future Floods in Focus: Using AI and Physics to Visualize Disaster Risks
MIT researchers have developed a groundbreaking AI-powered tool that integrates physics-based models to generate realistic satellite images of future flooding, offering communities a powerful way to visualize and prepare for disasters.
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.
Los Alamos County
City of Culver City
Skagit Transit
American Planning Association, Sustainable Communities Division
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Cambridge, Maryland
Newport County Development Council: Connect Greater Newport
Rockdale County Board of Commissioners