Urban Development
Last Gasp for Vegas?
The $8.5 billion CityCenter mega project is set to open next week in Las Vegas. Many say it's likely to be the last major project in the struggling city for years.
The Forgotten River of Kolkata
The Hooghly River runs right through Kolkata, India, but it remains largely behind the scenes and caved in by factories and industrial uses. Some voices are calling for the city to embrace its river and reorient itself around the amenity.
Redeveloping Open Space to Revive Housing Projects
Public housing projects have been a thorn in the paw of New York City for years. The city is trying to figure out what to do with the perennially problem-plagued housing projects. Some groups say redevelopment is the answer.
Scars of a Subdivision That Wasn't To Be
This post from BLDGBLOG looks at the ghost of a planned but never realized subdivision on the outskirts of a Southern California exurb where only faint lines of unfinished roads remain.
Developer Goes Green To Make Up For Big Box History
Developer Jim Jacoby likes to joke that his move into alternative energy and mixed-use development is penance for a history of building WalMarts.
Exercising Eminent Domain for Private Developers
A New York Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a private developer, who plans to build a basketball arena in Brooklyn, validating the state's use of eminent domain on his behalf. A local group says the fight is just beginning.
Front Yards Are For Lawns, Not Cars, City Says
Queens and Brooklyn homeowners may soon be prohibited from converting front yards into parking pads if a set of regulations is approved. The loss of street parking from new curb cuts was cited as a reason, along with aesthetics.
Boomburb Growth Must Go Up, Not Out, To Retain Viability
As reported here, many boomburbs have ceased growing, if only temporarily. Streetsblog notes that experts are suggesting that in order to maintain their economic viability, these fast growing communities will have to, gasp, become more urban in form
Iraqi Civil Engineers Take Over Base Planning
An architect, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer and four civil engineers from Iraq have taken over the base planning for the U.S Army's Basrah base, a small city with electrical, sewage and water systems as well as ongoing construction.
Banks Brace for Onslaught of "Zombie Buildings"
Many of the thousands of commercial buildings erected on easy credit before the economic downturn remain underutilized or empty. Now those loans are coming due.
Class Divide in NY Inclusive Buildings
At the 101 Warren in Manhattan, developers split the building into luxury and affordable rentals to take advantage of tax breaks. Tensions have resulted, and now a proposed re-zoning would send the affordable residents' kids to a different school.
Huge San Francisco Redevelopment Project Underway
It's the largest redevelopment project since the great earthquake of 1906: 702 acres, 10,500 residential units, a shipyard brownfield cleanup, and a new stadium (hopefully) for the 49ers. The Environmental Impact Report has just been released.
Unanimity Over Density in Vancouver
The Vancouver City Council voted unanimously to approve the creation of a new high-density, mixed-use community on land left over from Expo 86.
Suburban Utopias?
This article from the Guardian argues that despite years of derision, suburbia is gaining a more positive reputation as "utopia in a big way".
A Look Back at the Urban Impact of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz
As termed-out Mayor Manny Diaz leaves office in Miami, The Miami Herald's Andres Viglucci takes a look back at the impact Diaz had on the city's growth.
The Remarkable Rezoning of NYC
Recently the NYC Planning Dept. announced its 100th rezoning since Bloomberg took office. This article takes a spin through the city's remarkable shift in the last 50 years away from industry to business and tourism and a sustainable approach.
Reconsidering the McMansion Business
Builders John Wieland Homes & Neighborhoods, hit hard by the downturn, is meeting consumer price points by creating compact home designs instead of the 4,700 sq. ft. homes that were their bread and butter.
New London, Four Years After Kelo
The 2005 Supreme Court decision on Kelo v. New London was a landmark in eminent domain law, paving the way for Pfizer to develop there. Four years later, Pfizer is pulling up stakes.
Time Shares Go Urban
Urban time shares get a boost as Hilton gets in on the action. A new NYC property is gaining attention and, surprisingly enough, selling units.
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
