Greg Hanscom, cities editor at Grist, picks his top stories for 2011, including Occupy Wall Street, bright flight and the "urban renaissance that isn't (yet)."
Hanscom says that one of the most significant stories of the year was the Census analysis showing that the much-cited move to urban areas and out of the suburbs hadn't happened to as significant degree as reported:
"When the final 2010 Census came in, it made clear that the renaissance had not arrived yet -- at least not in any statistically meaningful way. An analysis of eight metro areas, including Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Austin, revealed that in the past decade, 96 percent of the population growth occurred in the suburbs. Some took great exception to this number crunching, arguing that it lumped a number of full-fledged cities in with the 'burbs. But while the Census, stripped of much of the nuance that it had contained in previous years, painted a rather fuzzy picture, there was little to suggest any inmigraiton into urban centers."
FULL STORY: Top cities stories of 2011

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Half of Post-Fire Altadena Home Sales Were to Corporations
Large investors are quietly buying up dozens of properties in Altadena, California, where a devastating wildfire destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.

Opinion: What San Francisco’s Proposed ‘Family Zoning’ Could Really Mean
Mayor Lurie is using ‘family zoning’ to encourage denser development and upzoning — but could the concept actually foster community and more human-scale public spaces?

Jacksonville Launches First Autonomous Transit Shuttle in US
A fleet of 14 fully autonomous vehicles will serve a 3.5-mile downtown Jacksonville route with 12 stops.
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