Urban Development

The market for big box spaces plunged during the recession as companies like Circuit City folded. But demand is very slightly picking up, and in some places it never went away.

January 10, 2010 - Retail Traffic Magazine

Regional planning in CA's sprawling Central Valley has turned to the huge challenge of increasing density. Fortunately, SB 375 will facilitate planners' efforts to double Fresno County density to 8 units per acre. Yet institutional obstacles remain.

January 7, 2010 - The Fresno Bee

Though he originally planned to build a prayer center on part of a 20 acre property he was pursuing, a Texas Pastor has expanded his plans into an all-out neighborhood with more than 450 homes.

January 7, 2010 - The Houston Chronicle

The Burj Khalifa has opened in Dubai. Now, locals say, the development of the city's public life must begin.

January 7, 2010 - The National

Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb of Portland, is an ambitious town on the urban growth boundary that is eager to expand into the farmland next door. How will Portland's system of growth-slowing government respond?

January 6, 2010 - GOOD Magazine

NASA satellite imagery reveals that two of California's main groundwater sources are being rapidly depleted by agriculture and exurban development.

January 6, 2010 - The Christian Science Monitor

Kaid Benfield of the NRDC reviews The Smart Growth Manual by Andres Duany, Jeff Speck and Mike Lydon. Benfield gives it high marks for style and substance, and for the way it incorporates environmental issues.

January 5, 2010 - NRDC Blog

The New York Times looks at plans for the new Transbay Terminal in San Francisco, which could break ground within months.

January 4, 2010 - The New York Times

Bryan Finoki looks at the devastated cities of Detroit and New Orleans and finds "blueprints for the manufacture of ruin".

January 4, 2010 - Triple Canopy

Curbed LA takes an amusing look at the urban planning proposals that bubbled up in L.A. throughout 2009.

January 3, 2010 - Curbed LA

Sweetheart deals using public monies to fund stadiums have backfired across the country, causing more drain than gain.

January 1, 2010 - The New York Times

Sharing apartments as roommates is a foreign concept in Japan- single people have traditionally preferred their own tiny living quarters. A new glut of large, fancy apartments has created a new market for roomies.

December 31, 2009 - The Wall St. Journal

December 31, 2009 - Nate Berg

New Urbanist Steve Mouzon lists the sustainable building trends to watch out for in the new year, including the growth of live/work spaces and a move towards greater durability.

December 31, 2009 - The Original Green Blog

Triple Canopy translates a Chinese interview with Shu Yu, one of the world's foremost underground urban planners. He talks about the potential of underground space for urban habitation.

December 30, 2009 - Triple Canopy

Marin County, long known for its environmental awareness, is concerned about anything that is "growth inducing", and that certainly includes the new SMART passenger rail system, approved by the voters in November, that will serve Sonoma and Marin.

December 30, 2009 - Marin Independent Journal

The three counties in the Portland Metropolitan area are at odds about what parts of the region should and should not be protected by urban growth boundaries.

December 29, 2009 - The Oregonian

Closed car dealerships across the country are finding new life as yoga studios, classrooms, and day care centers.

December 29, 2009 - Gazette Times

New air quality guidelines aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of new housing developments may turn out to hinder the approval of dense projects in California.

December 28, 2009 - The New York Times

The City of San Francisco recently inked a deal to purchase the man-made Treasure Island sitting in its bay. But some wonder if an island threatened by rising sea levels was really such a smart buy.

December 28, 2009 - San Francisco Chronicle