Unlike previous generations that fled cities, in part over of fears of crime, today people leave many cities because they can't afford them.
Cities like Austin are seeing their growth move from the city center to the suburbs. Hays County, southwest of the city is growing instead. "The county, where builders have transformed farmland into gleaming new subdivisions with slogans like “Where Austin goes to grow”, expanded by 5% between July 2016 and July 2017," The Economist writes.
They see this change, the scale of which was shown by Brookings Institution, as driven in large part by prices. "Growth in America’s three largest metropolitan areas is sluggish. Los Angeles grew by just 0.19% from 2016 to 2017, while New York expanded by 0.23% and Chicago actually shrank by 0.14%. In 2017, five times as many Americans moved to New York’s suburbs as moved to the Big Apple," The Economist reports. They point out that the stereotype of millennials who hate cars and love cities is exaggerated as millennials are more likely than the generation before them to opt out of living in cities as young people.
Read the full story: High prices in America’s cities are reviving the suburbs
Texas, the Bellwether State
With its rapid economic growth, dynamic cities, and increasingly diverse population, Texas could offer a model for the future of the United States.
A Frank Discussion About Struggling Suburbs
Many suburban areas outside thriving urban cores are struggling to deliver vital services and maintain property values as job and population growth stagnates. It's time to confront the realities of those communities, according to this article.
The Myth of the 'Childless City'
It is conventional wisdom that suburbs are more attractive to families with children than cities. But in fact, the most dense urban cores are gaining children to a greater extent than their suburbs.
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.
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.
California city breaks ground on transit connector
The project includes three mobility hubs and a pedestrian bridge.
After public outcry, Massachusetts city releases housing development tracker
Cambridge’s tracker currently shows 250 housing projects in various stages of development.
40 years after approval, Chicago breaks ground on new park
The park honors Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the city’s first permanent non-native settler.
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