Social / Demographics

Each year Walk Score ranks the top cities for walking, according to its own walk score methodology. In 2011, NYC placed #1. See the rest of the top 10!

July 21, 2011 - Walk Score

The amount of children under five has jumped in downtown Minneapolis, which is posing problems for the city and its school system.

July 20, 2011 - Minneapolis-St.Paul Star Tribune

A new 26-foot statue of Marilyn Monroe -- recreating a famous film scene in which wind blows up the star's skirt -- has been unveiled in Chicago. Tourists seem to like it, but others argue it's too kitschy.

July 20, 2011 - Chicago Sun-Times

Though population growth rates have slowed in cities and suburbs, their increasing interconnectedness has created sets of diverse metropolitan areas, according to the Brookings Institution's Alan Berube.

July 20, 2011 - The Brookings Institution

The first major American city to have a black majority, Washington D.C.'s demographics have shifted again.

July 19, 2011 - The New York Times

In an effort to improve the visitor experience and boost business, operators of a busy transit hub in Boston are bringing in performers and various activities to entertain people waiting and convince others to linger longer.

July 19, 2011 - The Boston Globe

A new documentary film delves into the complicated history, life and demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis.

July 18, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

Programmer and designer Eric Fischer has created a series of images that map the location of geo-coded images on Flickr and places where people are using Twitter.

July 18, 2011 - The City Fix

As the desire for wireless internet increases, some public parks are finding that Wi-Fi networks are becoming a new and important amenity.

July 18, 2011 - Time

Proportionally more women bike on New York City streets with protected bike lanes than not at all, and turning a painted lane into a protected one caused female ridership to soar.

July 18, 2011 - Streetsblog

Sprawl is so last season. GQ ranks the "most sartorially-challenged metropolises in the greater United States" based solely on the five-letter S-word rarely mentioned in planning: Style.

July 16, 2011 - GQ

A recent bid to lease the land that houses Spiral Jetty, the iconic piece of landscape art by Robert Smithson, has raised questions about whether art on land can be owned and where the line between the two should lie.

July 15, 2011 - Reuters

2010 Census offers telling evidence of America's shifting demographics. Diana Olick of CNBC contextualizes the new U.S. household data in terms of real estate development.

July 15, 2011 - CNBC

In a piece from The Atlantic Richard Florida discusses the factors that shape Americans' commuting patterns. Some of his assertions are counter to commonly accepted explanations for commuting behaviors.

July 15, 2011 - The Atlantic

With unemployment numbers falling, jobs are on the rise in some rural parts of the country.

July 14, 2011 - The Daily Yonder

Federal officials are being sent to work in six cities including Detroit, Cleveland and New Orleans to help coordinate local officials to "tap federal funds and leverage local and regional resources," The Wall Street Journal's Sharon Terlep reports.

July 13, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal

A new finding by Univ. of Wisconsin Population Health Institute reveals that when the health variable is isolated, suburban living beats living in the city and in rural areas.

July 12, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal

New playground designs are shaking up public parks around the world. So long, slides, hello interpretive playscapes.

July 12, 2011 - Dwell

Making urban data available is important, but not as important as presenting that data in a digestible way, according to this piece from Change Observer.

July 10, 2011 - Change Observer

Utopian developments often fail. This post from The Awl ranks the best and most desirable of the failed utopias throughout history.

July 10, 2011 - The Awl