Urban Development
Does the Aspen Ideas Festival Offer Compelling Ideas for Improving City Life?
The Aspen Ideas Festival didn't offer much that was particularly compelling, but it had its moments.
Time to Look at Oakland
While Oakland is by no means an easy place to develop real estate, the often maligned East Bay city of over 400,000 residents may very well be the Bay Area’s best place to embrace much-needed development.
The Risks and Conflicts of Interest in San Diego's Proposed Redevelopment Scheme
Before San Diego adopts a proposal to continue redevelopment using profit-based concepts, it should pause to consider the perils, argues Murtaza H. Baxamusa, an affordable housing developer and planning professor.
California Urbanists Grappling with Infrastructure Post-Redevelopment
An overview of how urbanists in California have shifted their thinking about repairing urban cores. The article is by Howard Blackson III, an urban designer.
'Urban Acupuncture' Prescribed for Los Angeles' Streets
Pulling from Jaime Lerner's famed expression of 'Urban Acupuncture,' Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has chosen 15 major thoroughfares to transform into hubs of neighborhood activity as a part of the Great Streets initiative.
Growing Concentrations of Poverty in American Suburbs
Updating the initial "Re-Emergence of Concentrated Poverty" Brookings report, Elizabeth Kneebone shows where concentrations of poverty have taken root during the Great Recession and subsequently slow recovery period.
Jobs-Rich Cities: Three Potential Frontiers of Economic Development
Unemployment still looms above 2007 levels, and is coupled with the lowest labor force participation in 30 years. Arthur Burris outlines what kinds of strategies cities can adopt to help their local economies.
Baltimore Past and Future Found on Brewers Hill
Adaptive reuse of historic breweries has revitalized the Brewers Hill neighborhood in Baltimore, which is well-situated with future Red Line access and proximity to the Port of Baltimore and the Canton Crossing shopping district.
First Net-Zero Energy Apartments Planned in South Sacramento
Housing 120 units, the first net-zero energy transit-oriented development complex in South Sacramento will feature a rooftop farm and resident-run onsite bicycle repair.
Add GE's Relocation to Cincinnati's Urban Renaissance
General Electric has a strong regional presence in the Cincinnati area, but none of its 10 facilities are located downtown. That is about to change thanks to Cincinnati's urban revival making it an attractive place for the company's younger workers.
Making Space for Art in the 'Science of Cities'
An article by Adam Frank argues that a discussion of quality of life in cities, as an emerging of "science of cities" claims to improve, must include a discussion of public art.
On the Importance of Denver's Union Station: Then and Now
The reopening of Denver's Union Station last weekend provides an opportunity to reflect on the importance of rail, with its hub at Union Station, in establishing Denver, as well as the city's multi-modal future, again with its hub as Union Station.
Reinventing the Suburban Office Park
The need to update aging facilities, as well as competition coming from once-dormant urban rivals, is compelling many suburban office parks to invest in the trappings of more urban settings.
Modeling the Explosive Growth of the Southern Megalopolis
A new study, "The Southern Megalopolis: Using the Past to Predict the Future of Urban Sprawl in the Southeast U.S." predicts urban sprawl and warns of its possible consequences over the next 50 years.
Applying Moses to Modern-Day Green Space Projects
Could the Los Angeles River use its own 'power broker'?
Place Mobility: Sometimes Good Transportation Is Slow
Streetcars are expensive and slow, and that drives Matthew Yglesias crazy. He fails to grasp Place Mobility, which can be an excellent transportation investment for a city.
Senate Showdown Expected on House Highway Funding Bill
The Senate will hear four amendments to the House bill, passed July 15, in the last week of July. Sens. Boxer, Carper, and Corker want the funding extension to terminate on December 19 rather than May 31. On August 1, DOT reduces payments to states.
Los Angeles Housing and Incubator for Artists Hopes to Grow to Every Community
A review of Art Share LA by Los Angeles County planner Clement Lau.
A Developer's Perspective on Historic Restoration for Mixed-Used Development
Developer Nick Kujawa shares his experience with mix-use development, and provides commentary on a new Community Builders report, "RESTORE: Commercial and Mixed-Use Development Trends in the Rocky Mountain West."
Festivities Greet Weekend Opening of Tucson Sun Link Streetcar
$87.7 million in voter-approved funding, a $63 million TIGER grant, a $6 million New Starts grant, and $35.6 million in other regional and local funding built the Sun Link streetcar. A whole weekend of festivities will welcome its opening.
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.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association
