Once the 8th largest city in the United States, Buffalo, NY is now ranked 70th (with 261,000 residents). After several failed attempts at urban renewal, the city leadership is trying a new approach - namely, to recast Buffalo as a college town.
The University at Buffalo is spearheading a $5 billion expansion plan, called UB 2020. Business leaders and local politicians are strongly in support of the project which they see as their best hope for a new economic base.
The proposal is to move the university's medical school from the outskirts to downtown. Part of the funding for the plan will come from tuition hikes, according to Thomas Kaplan of The New York Times. Kaplan also notes that the proposed tuition increases have generated opposition on the grounds that lower-income students will not be able to afford to attend the University at Buffalo after its expansion.
"There is no denying that the hope - that Buffalo could someday be a New York version of Berkeley, Calif. - is a tantalizing one," writes Kaplan.
FULL STORY: In Buffalo, Visions, Perhaps Illusions, of a University-Fueled Revitalization

Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.

Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?

HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.

EPA Terminates $116 Million in Grants for Reducing Emissions from Construction Materials
C-MORE grants were earmarked for industry trade groups and universities.

BART Closes $35 Million Deficit
Cost control and revenue generation measures prevented service cuts.

The New Parisian Hearse is a Bicycle
Sleek, silent, and sustainable, a green trip to the graveyard has hit the streets of the French capital.
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.
City of Moreno Valley
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
City of Piedmont, CA
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland