Urban Development

Driven by a need to meet growing costs amid unstable federal subsidies, metropolitan transit agencies are eying their properties, particularly parking lots, as money makers from new residential and commercial development.

October 20, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

B Labs, the nonprofit that oversees and assesses B Corps, reports that, compared to other sustainable businesses, B Corps are 68 percent more likely to donate at least 10 percent of their profits to charity.

October 18, 2014 - ICIC

Jared Green asks the billion dollar question for economic developers and planning agencies throughout the United States: is urban revitalization of neighborhoods possible without the subsequent gentrification and displacement of current residents?

October 18, 2014 - ASLA The Dirt

A poll gave Parisians direct say over which projects the city government will implement with a new participatory budget. Some city residents relished the opportunity to express their preferences. Others raised concerns.

October 17, 2014 - The Guardian

There is development life in San Francisco outside of SoMa (South of Market). Jim Chappell, former SPUR director, reviews some of the activity in this second installation of a series.

October 17, 2014 - UrbDeZine

Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert has an urbanist streak. And only people with his kind of money can singlehandedly buy out big chunks of downtown Detroit. But will his approach to neighborhood-making actually benefit the city as a whole?

October 17, 2014 - Grist

There's a third dimension to sprawl: all those photons that emanate from street lights, houses, and vehicles. As author Paul Bogard discusses in The End of Night, light pollution is an overlooked menace that presents a new frontier for planners.

October 16, 2014 - California Planning & Development Report

An ongoing planning effort in Oklahoma City would revitalize a neighborhood adjacent to the city's downtown core long neglected by bad planning.

October 16, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

Recent investment in Buffalo, New York has been celebrated in the press and the city as a renaissance after decades of decline. But rising tides don't always lift all boats. A recent article describes a unique effort to call attention to the divide.

October 16, 2014 - The Guardian (UK)

An article surveys Lima, Ohio's long-term residents, politicians, and economy to weave a narrative tracing the ups and downs of the shrinking small town.

October 16, 2014 - Rolling Stone

Linh Tat reports on the opening of a new waterfront park created and maintained by two New Jersey cities: North Bergen and Guttenberg.

October 16, 2014 - North Jersey

The Silver Line opened two and a half months ago. Already, with strong ridership in both directions, some businesses are seeing new opportunities.

October 15, 2014 - Elevation DC

For the last several decades, North American cities have used growth as a primary economic engine. Increasingly less dense new growth is subsidized by the more dense core, but requires a growth rate that is not supportable in the long term.

October 15, 2014 - PlaceShakers

The Rebuild By Design competition attracted plenty of hoopla thanks to its $920 million and the critical need for projects that protect coastal cities as sea levels rise. Now that the winners have been picked, how will they deliver on their promise?

October 15, 2014 - The Architect's Newspaper

Mayor Michael Nutter believes that his administration leaves "a template for how future development unfolds in Philadelphia" as one of its legacies.

October 15, 2014 - Philadelphia Inquirer

With more than ten new residential towers rising around Tampa Bay, development is booming, but why aren't the new buildings more reflective of the community and environment?

October 13, 2014 - Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

The controversial 1060 Project to renovate the Home of the Chicago Cubs broke ground over the weekend on a renovation proposal that will allow a mix of uses on the ballpark property.

October 13, 2014 - Chicago Tribune

Many cities have long been investing in art and culture, marrying it to placemaking, and generating extraordinary local transformations. Hazel Borys offers up a little inspiration from an art opening this week, and a few pointers for urbanists.

October 12, 2014 - PlaceShakers

The Bacon's Rebellion blog focuses on the potential of suburbs to meet the demands of a growing population with different lifestyles and expectations for their communities than previous generations.

October 9, 2014 - Bacon's Rebellion

In his fourth "place-decoding" essay from France, Chuck Wolfe illustrates how a traditional placemaking intervention is especially powerful when underlying urban fundamentals align.

October 9, 2014 - Huffington Post