Urban Development

Key to the upswing in the Brooklyn rental market was the failure of the last wave of building condominiums - providing a ready supply that only needed to be converted to rentals. The sale of a Williamsburg building set a record outside of Manhattan.

June 5, 2012 - The New York Times - Business Day

Hazel Borys argues that "the payback of livable places really can’t be calculated in dollars, or pounds of fat or carbon, or even hours. The payback of place is passion."

June 5, 2012 - PlaceShakers

Matt Shaw updates the status of New York's efforts to catch up with the global rise in super-tall residential skyscrapers.

June 4, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

Stalled for years by the recession, Sam Allen looks at the prospects for the revival of ambitious plans to remake L.A.'s Grand Avenue.

June 4, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Thomas Kaplan and Danny Hakim report on the collapse of New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's $4 billion plan to create the country’s largest convention center and a casino in Queens.

June 4, 2012 - The New York Times

Add this one to the "This is how they spend my tax dollars?!" file. Scott Huler exposes a ploy by legislators from 20 coastal North Carolina counties to outlaw effectively measuring and predicting the potential rise in sea level.

June 4, 2012 - Scientific American Plugged In Blog

It used to be that visibility was the most important factor in siting a business. This may no longer be the case, argues Kevin Klinkenberg, as smartphones make location irrelevant.

June 2, 2012 - New Urbanism Blog

Planned as intensely for the two weeks this summer when the world's attention will be focused on the XXX Olympiad as the decades following the end of the last race, Anthony Faiola examines whether London's Olympics provide a model for future hosts.

June 2, 2012 - The Washington Post

As Philadelphia seeks to shift the basis of its property tax system, Catherine Lucey and Jan Ransom report on legislation to be introduced by two City Councilmen that could provide property tax relief to long-time residents of gentrifying areas.

June 1, 2012 - philly.com

While raw density numbers are sure to pick a fight, discussing character-based building typologies one neighborhood at a time may help find common ground.

June 1, 2012 - PlaceShakers

A new development intending to jump-start downtown Newark's renewal, and designed by Richard Meier, is banking on the stimulating powers of an unlikely economic engine - teachers.

May 31, 2012 - Fast Company

Daniel Denvir's article will have you thinking twice about whether your elected officials should be dedicating public resources to support the newest mega-project in your city as he explores "Great Moments in the History of Boondoggles."

May 31, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Lisa W. Foderaro reports on a new deal that enables adaptive reuse of historic structures and commercial development at Brooklyn Bridge Park, and ends a long-simmering dispute.

May 30, 2012 - New York Times

Dan Rosenfeld looks at two recent projects in L.A. that incorporate public art components and finds that "investments in public art may provide the highest financial returns of any funds committed to an aspect of a transit project."

May 29, 2012 - Urban Land

Christopher Hume surveys Toronto's "mid-rise crisis" and asks why the city has made it nearly impossible to build "the urban residential form par excellence."

May 29, 2012 - Toronto Star

The sale of distressed mortgages is far less publicized than talk of the market for foreclosed properties. But these loans are being actively traded—in 2011 this activity included 149,000 loans which translates to roughly $26 billion in trades.

May 27, 2012 - Shelterforce Magazine

As libraries and and post offices are replaced by private development while streets and sidewalks lack funding, what can be done to enliven the public realm?

May 27, 2012 - PlaceShakers

In an opinion piece for The New York Times, Christopher B. Leinberger summarizes a new report he's co-authored for the Brookings Institution that demonstrates the correlation between walkability and real estate value.

May 26, 2012 - The New York Times

The Grid solicited ideas from some of Toronto's smartest people for how to make the city better, no matter what the cost or feasibility. David Topping and Katie Underwood deliver the inventive results.

May 24, 2012 - The Grid

At a packed, May 17 meeting in Oakland, filled with transit advocates, tea-partiers, and builders, leaders of the two regional planning agencies selected "Plan Bay Area" as the blueprint to reduce transportation greenhouse gas emissions 17% by 2035.

May 24, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle