Good news for Pittsburgh, which is now officially reversing decades of Rust Belt trends.
"Metropolitan Pittsburgh is a picture of stability entering 2016," according to an article by Stuart Hoffman, who proceeds to provide a veritable laundry list of good news:
Job growth is outpacing the Pennsylvania state average, and the unemployment rate for the seven-county region is steady near 5 percent. 2015 brought a resurgence in labor force growth, providing local employers a wider pool of talent from which to fill their ever-expanding payroll needs. Pittsburgh will manage steady gains throughout the coming year thanks to continued consumer spending.
Among the many other examples of good news included by Hoffman in this comprehensive overview of the Pittsburgh economy: "job growth here finished 2015 at a year-over-year pace as strong as any since 2001." And perhaps in an example of burying the lede, from a planner's point of view anyway: "Pittsburgh’s long-time trend of population declines is in the early stages of a turnaround," says Hoffman, thanks to the overall positive direction of Pittsburgh.
Read the full story: Moderate Growth in Store for Metro Pittsburgh in 2016
Almost a Billion Dollars of Redevelopment Investment Headed to Pittsburgh's South Shore
A stretch of land along the Monongahela River is attracting multiple deep-pocketed investors.
Milwaukee Sets Sights on a Million Residents
Zoning reform will be key to the Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s vision to almost double the city’s population.
Pittsburgh Revitalization Plans Stuck on Blight
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently published an investigation of the city's efforts to buy and rehabilitate vacant properties in the troubled neighborhood of Homewood.
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.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Malls are becoming the midtowns of the future
Mall and office park redevelopments are a generational opportunity to create new nodes of urbanity.
Officials claim feds 'rushed' Amtrak environmental review
Amtrak plans to move their Chicago maintenance facility from an industrial area to a residential one.
NYC breaks ground on anti-flooding infrastructure project
New York City's new system will reduce stormwater flows to local sewers by 90%.
One Kentucky town’s secret to affordable housing
The Smoketown Community Land Trust has already built seven affordable homes for community members.
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
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority