Cleveland, Ohio has pursued an aggressive policy of greening it vacant and underused land. A program called Garden Boyz employs local youth to tend the gardens, keeping the landscape vital and keeping the kids out of gangs.
The Garden Boyz program is supported by a grant from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
"While the vast majority of the city's $54 million in NSP money will be used to demolish blighted and foreclosed homes, the city is also investing in 58 pilot projects that move vacant land strategies beyond temporary fences and lawns," writes Marc Lefkowitz.
Lefkowitz says that uses for vacant land is "currently the hottest topic in urban planning."
Read the full story: DC Urbanexus Magazine Cleveland’s Comeback
Cleveland is turning abandoned real estate into ‘housing innovation district,’ jobs
The city’s housing innovation district will bring pro-housing policies to disinvested neighborhoods.
Cleveland program has housed 200 people since 2024
The A Home For Every Neighbor initiative successfully moves people into housing in under two weeks.
Cleveland announces new Midline industrial investment district
The plan calls for at least 1.5 million square feet of new industrial and commercial space alongside housing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Atlanta City Council unanimously backs $3.5 billion Beltline light rail project
The resolution was drafted after Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens pulled support for the Atlanta Streetcar extension last year.
SEPTA to bring nearby frequent transit to over 1 million new riders as part of decade-long plan
The agency's Accelerate plan will also bring frequent transit to twice the amount of jobs that are currently located near it.
NYC plants over 18,000 trees, the most new foliage in a decade
Many of the trees were planted in communities vulnerable to extreme heat.
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.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello