Urban Development

From movie sets to pot farms to low-income housing, foreclosed homes have been converted in unepected and resourceful ways. Catherine Rampell reports.

January 11, 2012 - The New York Times

Energy efficiency has become as compelling as "the new granite countertop" for home sales and rentals.

January 10, 2012 - Urban Land

The Philadelphia Inquirer's architecture critic sets out to find the outer edge of the Philadelphia suburbs, and finds a "zombie subdivision."

January 9, 2012 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Researchers look at the largely suburban South Bay area of Los Angeles to offer ways to retrofit auto-oriented suburbs for more pedestrian travel.

January 9, 2012 - Access

A new technology enables pedestrian behavior and flow to be monitored continuously using mobile phone technology. Its use in US and UK shopping centers has consumer rights activists worried.

January 9, 2012 - The Guardian

New York University's 20-year expansion plan could become a dangerous precedent for overbuilding by bypassing the city's open space zoning rules, argues Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

January 8, 2012 - The Villager

With perhaps as many as 2 billion parking spaces in the US, planners and architects should "take seriously" the parking lot as an actual, useful public space.

January 7, 2012 - The New York Times

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposes closing the Javits Center and opening a bigger, convention center to spur economic development. Other proposals included new power transmission lines and Las Vegas-style casinos.

January 6, 2012 - Streetsblog

The 80s-era convention center on the far west side of Manhattan would be turned into a mixed-use development and a Malaysian gambling company would instead redevelop the Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, Queens.

January 6, 2012 - Bloomberg

What would be the Millennium Reserve is currently "underused and post-industrial land" and is expected to cost about $17 million to construct. At about 140,000 acres, it's approximately ten times larger than Manhattan.

January 6, 2012 - Triple Pundit

Why rezone? John Farley summarizes the factors leading up to some of the city's biggest and more recent rezonings, as well as their impacts on on their surroundings.

January 5, 2012 - Thirteen.org

Numerous projects and economic development efforts have brought newfound attention to downtown Oklahoma City over the last year. Now locals are wondering if the pace can continue.

January 5, 2012 - The Oklahoman

In last week's court ruling, the California Supreme Court didn't just kill redevelopment. The court also upheld a drawn-out process of other agencies picking the meat off redevelopment's bones.

January 5, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

Planners and development experts explain why modeling Delhi after cities like Singapore, Hong Kon and Mumbai is misguided and dangerous.

January 5, 2012 - The Times Of India

After a flawed parking study on Manhattan's core last fall, the NYC Department of City Planning have released a revised version that calls for an end to parking minimums, especially those linked to affordable housing.

January 4, 2012 - Streetsblog New York City

The formula for Detroit's current status is complicated -- a mix of local, regional and national socioeconomic forces. But while many hands have shaped the good and bad of today's Detroit, the impact of current federal policy is easy to spot.

January 4, 2012 - City Limits

The California State Supreme Court recently upheld the eradication of the state's roughly 400 redevelopment agencies, and now officials from those groups are trying to convince legislators to give back some of their spending powers.

January 4, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

It's been over 12 years since Houston last planned for denser development patterns, but an updated code is on the way to lure an ever growing population away from the suburbs.

January 4, 2012 - Houston Chronicle

On South Florida's radar: three "Las Vegas-style casino resorts," the prospect of which has already begun impacting nearby development. Fred A. Bernstein reports.

January 3, 2012 - The New York Times

A real estate industry insider website publishes it's annual report of the real 100 most influential people in real estate and who will "help real estate recover in 2012."

January 3, 2012 - Inman News