Roberta Brandes Gratz pays a visit to Mt. Morris, New York, a town that many are looking at as a prime example of economic revitalization.
Only a few years ago, Main Street Mount Morris was lacking street life and was dotted with empty storefronts. Gratz talks with Greg O'Connell who had a vision to mend the town of 3,000.
O'Connell saw "the opportunity to revive a Main Street for small businesses in a parallel way to the waterfront in Brooklyn where he restored Civil War warehouses for small manufacturers. Now observers come from near and far to see this model of Main Street revitalization."
"O'Connell bought and restored 19 buildings, lured new businesses, created 28 second-floor apartments, involved both the local high school and college and the larger community."
Read the full story: Upstate New York Revival: Genius – or Common Sense?
Small 'maker' businesses are good for downtowns — and data proves it
Small-scale manufacturers tend to be more engaged in the local supply chain, contributing to economic revitalization.
In Planning, Reality Can Be Worse Than Fiction
The Showtime Series Penny Dreadful portrays a bleak vision of 1940s Los Angeles. But, unencumbered by regulations and zoning laws, it also displays what great urban neighborhoods can look like.
Reopening Main Street
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Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Move over, LA: St. Louis gears up for Olympics, invests millions in downtown redevelopment
The Missouri city will host the 2028 Olympic soccer group stage and knockout matches.
California High-Speed Rail Authority picks trainset manufacturer
The California High-Speed Rail Authority aims to start servicing passengers by 2033.
Dallas releases zoning code overhaul to officials
The drafted overhaul is over 400 pages long.
NYC renovations for dangerous, ‘mercilessly crammed’ street delayed until 2027
Construction was supposed to begin this fall.
San Diego’s Midway Rising project gets greenlight from city council
The project looks to become the largest affordable housing development in California's history.
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 Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello