Downtowns
Preserving Main Street in Large Developments
The Terraces, a mixed-use project in Charlottesville, Virginia, adopts a design that reflects its historic downtown surroundings. Oliver Kuttner, the developer, says that "breaking up" large buildings can make them more palatable on street level.
A Parking Kerfuffle in Downtown Dallas
The big, contentious question of contemporary downtowns is under consideration in Dallas: Is there too much parking or not enough parking?
Vancouver Votes to Remove Downtown Viaducts; Obstacles Remain
The Vancouver City Council took a major step forward this week with an idea that it's been mulling for years: to tear down the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts located in the city's downtown.
Transit Use Thrives on Destination Density
If jobs, services, and other urban amenities are concentrated downtown, suburbanites can use transit to get there quickly without a car. Job sprawl makes transit useless outside central districts.
Dallas' CityMAP Project Looks to Reimagine Downtown Connectivity
Local officials, planners, and other civic leaders have joined together to look at how the city can bring neighborhoods split by freeways back together again.
Dan Gilbert's Detroit Buying Spree Continues
The Quicken Loans founder and real estate mogul now controls 78 downtown properties. His investment choices can set the tone for life in what used to be an abandoned city center.
Most Downtowns Still Lagging Behind
Central districts have been surging back since the 1980s. But in most cities, the upper third of earners still favor outlying areas and are underrepresented closer to downtown.
Op-Ed: Streetcars Should Actually Serve Locals
While they're currently in vogue, streetcars are only worthwhile if they can be a viable option for local residents. Unfortunately, this is rarely how the systems are designed.
What Cities Can Learn From Companies Migrating to Downtown
The Core Values: Why American Companies are Moving Downtown report, released on June 18, 2015, provides in-depth analysis of a powerful trend of companies investing in urban downtowns.
Nashville Metro Council Rejects $100 Million Downtown Flood Control Project
Opponents of the capital investment plan rejected the plan on the basis that it focused too much on the downtown area.
Cycletracks and Other Improvements Coming Soon to Downtown Los Angeles
Improvements funded by the developer of the 73-story Wilshire Grand project will make Downtown Los Angeles' main thoroughfare a better place to walk, bike, and use public transit.
Family-Friendly Downtown Living
What helps make a downtown family friendly? Safe places to play, safe streets, good schools and attainable housing, writes Jennifer Hill.
Small Cities Booming Near Washington D.C.
"Mini D.C.s" provide the successful examples of revitalized, walkable urban places, according to a recent trend piece in the Washington Post.
The Downtown Dystopia and the 'Continued March of Sameness'
Architecture critic Aaron Betsky provides a new take urban dystopia: bland and homogenous. The antidote, he argues, can be found on the edges.
Should Clearwater, Florida Give Up its Downtown?
The city of Clearwater in Tampa Bay has a "sleepy" downtown, much of which is owned by the Church of Scientology. Can investments by the city revive its downtown, as it did with $30 million worth of investments in Clearwater Beach?
Twin Developments to Revitalize Downtown Minneapolis
With a $1 billion NFL stadium on the way, and a $400 million mixed-use development that recently broke ground next door to the new home of the Vikings, stakeholders have high hopes for Minneapolis' downtown.
What (or Who) Can Make a Downtown Revival Happen in Warren, Michigan?
After past attempts to redevelop the downtown of Michigan's third largest city failed, Warren's mayor believes that the city's downtown and civic center is ready to transform into a bustling urban environment. What will it take to make that happen?
Making the Case for the Downtown Athens Master Plan
University of Georgia College of Environment and Design Professor Jack Crowley has taken to the pages of a local publication to explain some of the thinking behind the proposed Downtown Athens Master Plan.
12 Strategies for Revitalizing Downtowns
Even cities without an official program for revitalizing their downtowns can take steps to transform their urban cores into a collection of vibrant places. The urbanSCALE website has collected a list of such strategies.
How Can We Hype Downtown's Resurgence If We Can't Define It?
The U.S. Census Bureau uses a relatively crude definition of downtowns, complicating comparison between metros and opening up their findings to criticism. A new method of measuring downtowns via heat maps of job density aims to address this problem.
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.
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
planning NEXT
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
