Fifty years after Jane Jacobs published her seminal book, "her vision of urban change [has] won the day," says Inga Saffron. Though her vision of physical diversity has prevailed, "that vision is also giving us a new kind of sterility."
"Jacobs, whose The Death and Life of Great American Cities serves as the bible for city-lovers and modern planners, believed that blighted neighborhoods would regenerate organically if left to their own devices," writes Saffron. "But Jacobs’s predictions of multi-generational, multi-race, mixed-income kumbaya hasn’t turned out quite as she hoped."
What Jacobs called "unslumming," would see existing residents "fix up their homes as their economic circumstances improved over time," attracting a gradual influx of newcomers drawn to "the charms of these diverse, lived-in neighborhoods."
"Unfortunately," says Saffron, "that rarely happens. Today we know the process she described by another name entirely: It’s not unslumming. It’s gentrification, a word that doesn’t sound nearly as quaint or benign....Appealing as it sounds in theory, Jacobs’s picture of hard-working locals hammering and spackling their way to an unslummed paradise has proved more romanticized than real."
"It turns out that the old complaint against gentrification, that it drives out minorities, is far too simplistic. Instead, we should be worrying about a different concern: It hasn’t built the diversity that Jacobsian urbanists envisioned, and that cities need. Diversity, in all its forms, is the urban advantage; it’s what lured a suburb-raised generation to 19th century rowhouses in the first place. After all these years of trying to revive their old neighborhoods, what a shame if it turns out that American cities have birthed a new kind of monotony."
FULL STORY: The Real Problem with Gentrification

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

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

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network
The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

New Trail Project Enhances Safety and Access to Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge
Jefferson County is improving safe access to Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge with new trails, a bridge, and signage, as part of the Rocky Mountain Greenway project, ensuring environmental safety and educating visitors about the site’s history.

Wisconsin Awarded $12 Million for Brownfield Redevelopment Amid Broader EPA Budget Cuts
The EPA provided the funding to Wisconsin for brownfield cleanups in cities like Milwaukee and Racine, even as broader agency budget cuts under the Trump administration raise concerns about future environmental protection capacity.

Indianapolis Advances Plans to Expand and Connect Citywide Greenway Network
Indianapolis is developing a new Greenways Strategic Implementation Plan to expand, connect, and modernize its trail system, aiming for over 250 miles of greenways that support sustainability, mobility, and community well-being.
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 Moorpark
City of Tustin
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions