Social / Demographics

The largest cohort of Millennials (those born in 1990) recently turned 25, leaving only smaller waves of their generational peers to follow. Are economic and generational trends primed for another, suburban shift?

February 23, 2016 - The Urban Edge

Research conducted in Flint, Michigan, found that changing the location of the local farmers' market had a dramatic effect in how residents shopped.

February 23, 2016 - NPR

Good news for Pittsburgh, which is now officially reversing decades of Rust Belt trends.

February 22, 2016 - Pittsburgh Today

A new report from the AAA indicates that American motorists encounter damage from potholes three times a year, with each incident costing an average $300 to repair. Middle and working class drivers feel the pinch disproportionately.

February 20, 2016 - AAA

Ken Greenberg, the former director of architecture and urban design for the city of Toronto, sits down to discuss how Toronto needs to transform to ensure a less auto-reliant future that serves a changing demographic of younger urban dwellers.

February 20, 2016 - Metro

In this era of increased inequality, socially-blind urban planning is morally questionable. Specifically, on the issue of homelessness in America, there are three problems to which planners need to pay particular attention.

February 18, 2016 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

The benefits of diverse classroom settings are well established. How then to protect diversity in schools when the surrounding neighborhood is quickly becoming homogenous?

February 18, 2016 - The New York Times

A 10-minute commute to lower Manhattan has made this once dingy city into the fastest growing in the Garden State. Yet from an historic perspective, Jersey City was a "shrinking city," not unlike Detroit or Youngstown, until 25 years ago.

February 18, 2016 - The New York Times - Real Estate

According to the real estate website, urban home values are growing faster than those in the suburbs, bucking a longtime trend. This isn't exactly surprising, but it has serious social justice implications.

February 17, 2016 - Puget Sound Business Journal

After two recessions that limped into slow and uneven economic recoveries, the number of people living below the federal poverty line rose to record levels. The suburbanization of poverty reflects shifting housing and labor markets.

February 16, 2016 - Penn Institute for Urban Research

As oil prices dip to around $30 a barrel, fears are setting in that North Dakota's oil fields have been overdeveloped. If the current boom goes bust, these towns might find themselves nearly empty.

February 15, 2016 - New York Times

From Motown to grunge, techno to hip hop, modern music came to life in garages, living rooms, churches, and warehouses. Urban design has been instrumental to what we listen to every day.

February 15, 2016 - The Guardian Cities

It's not just millennials anymore. A new study finds more people are going without driver's licenses than in previous decades.

February 14, 2016 - NPR

A map of bike commuters also maps the political conflicts in a changing Washington, D.C.

February 10, 2016 - Greater Greater Washington

Scott Doyon rewrote a classic children's book as a history of US cities since World War II. Fortunately, it's a quick read. Unfortunately, it's up to all of us how it ends.

February 10, 2016 - PlaceShakers

A study published February 9 in the Journal of the American Medical Association points to three reasons for the life expectancy being lower for Americans than in other developed nations. Care to guess what they are?

February 10, 2016 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Census data shows that Seattle jumped Baltimore to become the country's tenth most densely populated city. Is Seattle on the cusp of a changing of the guard when it comes to density and population growth?

February 9, 2016 - The Seattle Times

One of the sad contradictions of the revival of core urban areas has been the clash between waves of investment and affluence with large populations of homelessness. Many cities are still coming to terms with the issue, much less solving it.

February 3, 2016 - The Wall Street Journal

The only major candidate, Democrat or Republican, to call for an end to the contentious ethanol mandate won the Republican caucus, clearly beating Donald Trump. That could doom what many even in Iowa, among even some farmers, call a boondoggle.

February 3, 2016 - The New York Times - Politics

Louisville, Kentucky has recently been named the "most rapidly growing urban heat island" in the U.S., but what led to this title? Jeff Byles traces how cities are becoming increasingly warm through a number of different factors, including economic.

February 1, 2016 - Doggerel