Steven Pearlstein reads the tea leaves to predict the future development patterns in Washington, D.C. and finds that all signs point inwards to the city center and its closer-in suburbs.
As Pearlstein writes in The Washington Post its not just anti-sprawl activists and smart-growth planners who are trumpeting the call towards infill development, most developers he's spoken to agree.
Pearlstein sees a correlation between the abandonment of the traditional enclosed shopping mall and suburban office park, both representing major shifts in the economics of housing and commercial development. Demographic shifts, changing tastes and the damage wrought by the economic downturn will mean continued bad news for the outer suburbs and exurbs. Whereas, the market has remained strong and will continue to grow in the District and its inner suburbs.
"There are natural limits to how much a metropolitan region can expand its economy and its population by expanding its geographic footprint, and Washington is probably getting pretty close to them. The evidence can be found in the horrible commutes, in the divergent trends in land values at the core and at the periphery, and in the extraordinary cost of extending Metrorail to Loudoun County."
To successfully accommodate these shifts will take good, determined planning and "political and business leadership to accommodate, accelerate and manage that process."
Read the full story: Steven Pearlstein: For development, all signs point inward
As CA Turns to Infill, L.A.'s Largest Undeveloped Area Fills Up
Robbie Whelan reports that the last remaining unbuilt parcel in L.A.'s 1,000-acre Playa Vista development has been sold to Brookfield Homes, reflecting a turn by developers away from the exurbs and towards densifying urban cores.
What the fall of earth's largest pre-industrial city can teach us about urban sprawl
Angkor was a low-density metropolis. It lasted six centuries, until it could no longer maintain its infrastructure in a changing climate. Today, it offers planners a sobering warning about the risks of dispersed urban living.
The categorization conundrum of the American exurbs
Exurban counties exemplify the shortcomings of defining rural at the county level.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
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
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority