Vacant Lots
Dallas Doesn't Deliver on Promised Libraries
In 2006, Dallas voters approved a bond package that promised $42 million for new libraries. Ten years later, and after $11.75 million in spending, none of the projects are close to completion.
South Bend Reactivating Vacant Lots
Formerly vacant homes are now vacant lots in South Bend, Indiana. Returning the lots to productive uses presents a new kind of challenge for community groups and local officials.
Kansas City Program to Turn Vacant Lots Into Urban Forest
The Kansas City Land Bank has the funding to back up plans to begin transforming blighted, vacant lots into thriving groves of poplar trees.
New Releases: A Field Guide for Transforming Vacant Lots
Detroit Future City has released a guidebook for the process of redeveloping, renovating, and remediating neighborhoods full of vacant and blighted properties.
American Dream for Sale: $1,000 for an Empty Lot in Newark
In a bid for revenue and rejuvenation, Newark is selling vacant lots for $1,000. Buyers promise to build a home and stay for at least five years.
Los Angeles Embraces Urban Agriculture
A motion passed earlier this month calls for landowners to receive tax breaks for leasing vacant property for agriculture and farming.
Inside Baltimore's City Farms Program
Baltimore's urban gardening program dates back to 1978. A recent article details how the program works and the opportunity presented by a recent expansion to a new kind of property.
Washington D.C. Could Convert Vacant Lots to Urban Farms
Following a trend that has been more common in shrinking cities, Washington D.C. is considering a bill that would convert district-owned lots into urban farms.
Vacant Lots Ripe for Parks, and Legal Troubles
Nate Berg reports on the legal problems that can arise when a good Samaritan tries to create a park on a vacant lot.
Turning Vacant Lots from Eyesore to Opportunity
Vacant lots in American cities consume vast amounts of land, which many are now recognizing as places of opportunity. Some cities and citizens are transforming once empty urban spaces into vibrant community-fostering places.
Land Abundant Gives Rise to Gardens in Detroit
John Gallagher investigates a growing trend of unsanctioned urban agriculture in Detroit, where residents have had to take alternative land use into their own hands.
Injecting Art into the Vacant Lots of Salt Lake City
An art competition in Salt Lake City has resulted in a new installation to be built in one of the city's vacant lots.
Las Vegas Land Worth 75% Less Than 2007 Peak
About half of commercial mortgage defaults in Las Vegas last year were for vacant land. With loans impossible to get and construction at a halt, vacant land is a hard sell.
A Life Creating Community
A review of a new book Building Commons and Community by Karl Linn, a landscape architect and psychologist who worked to create vibrant community spaces in abandoned lots and boring institutional settings.
Whither Vacant Buildings?
Officials in Fort Worth, Texas, are searching for ways to deal with buildings left vacant by businesses struggling during the recession. Other cities and the state of Texas are also addressing the issue.
'Guerrilla Gardeners' Taking Over Neglected Public Places
Vacant lots and underutilized dirt patches are the the romping grounds of a new breed of activists. Known as "guerrilla gardeners", groups of people all over the world are reclaiming their cities' public spaces and landscapes by planting seeds.
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
