CityCenter in Las Vegas is the most expensive development in U.S. history. As it settles into it surrounds, will the project attain visionary status, or will it be just another casino?
This article from The Wall Street Journal looks at the megadevelopment and the man who created it, and wonders what both of their legacies will be.
"Jim Murren, the creator of this spectacle, works deep within a labyrinth of ornate passageways and conference halls. There's no sign on his office door, and a security guard in a red uniform stands rather aimlessly in a corner. You wouldn't think it was the nerve center of a multibillion-dollar empire, where Murren, CEO of MGM Mirage, runs 11 major resorts, including Bellagio, MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay, not to mention this, the just-opened CityCenter, the largest privately funded construction project in U.S. history. The $8.5 billion mixed-use complex, with its staggering 18 million square feet of usable space, is laid out like a city within a city, rising vertiginously from its 67-acre site along the Strip.
Murren presents himself as an idealist in a land of fabulists. He wears a white rubber bracelet that reads "Improve the World," and he's attempting to do just that by steering his company toward a more sustainable kind of development. He aspires to create a model for green city planning and his company is already at work duplicating it in China-but is it truly urban or just a new kind of Vegas theme resort, one that uses good taste as its come-on to well-heeled tourists from around the world?"
FULL STORY: Glass Menagerie
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
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.