Urban Development
'Lifestyle Changes' Needed for High-Speed Rail's Success
Critics of California's proposed high-speed rail system say that big cities are too spread apart for it to work as well as it has in Europe and Asia. Additionally, Californians will have to learn to adapt to density and public transportation.
Public Art Project's Impact at $69 Million
Olafur Eliasson’s "Waterfalls" public art installations around New York Harbor's waterfront generated an estimated economic impact of $69 million, exceeding the initial estimate of $55 million.
Legislations Rewards Affordable Housing with Parks
A new piece of legislation rewards local governments in California that build affordable housing with money to build and maintain parks.
Traffic-Fighting Proposition Falls Short
According to Neal Payton, Santa Monica's Proposition T, intended to cut traffic growth, is useless.
Home Builders Stepping In To Help Home Buyers
Builders are creating online educational programs to help potential buyers clean up their credit and obtain loans.
Le Corbusier's Baghdad Sports Complex Revealed
In the mid-1900s architect Le Corbusier designed a grand sports complex for Baghdad as part of the city's bid for the 1960 Olympics. That bid failed and the project was never built. Now, original drawings and designs are on display.
Are Libertarians Socially Conservative on Land Use?
Bill Fulton thinks so, calling them to task for speaking out against density in Orange County when, he says, the market demand is evident.
New Urbanism Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry
New Urban News reports that even as housing costs plummet and construction is halted on single-family homes across the country, traditional neighborhood developments and TODs are thriving.
Want Smart Growth? Break Out the Carrots and Sticks
To paraphrase B.F. Skinner, if you want positive behavior, either reward it in return, or remove something unpleasant in response; to paraphrase R. Steuteville's commentary, if we want a green economy, we need to do the same thing with development.
Which Cities Stretch Dollars The Farthest?
Texas cities top a ranking by Forbes of where your dollar goes the farthest. Affordable housing and promising job prospects made a big difference.
Charleston Fills In
As the city pulls more and more people from the suburbs back to the center, planners and developers in Charleston are warming up to the idea of infill development.
Affordable Housing Needs Affordable Land
Witold Rybzynski details the vicious cycle behind the nation's shortage of affordable housing.
Ideas to Outmode the Strip Mall
In a contest sponsored by the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, architecture firms nationwide competed to show off how they would best use land currently devoted to strip malls. Bustler provides the winning entries.
'Housing That Works' Plan Announced
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has announced that within the next five years, $5 billion will go to funding 20,000 new affordable homes near public transportation.
The One-Day Casino
To keep its gaming rights which will in turn preserve its property value, The Queen of Hearts casino must open for eight hours every two years.
News Summary: Cities and the Financial Crisis
How is the financial crisis impacting urban planning and land use policy? Managing Editor Tim Halbur takes a look at some early indicators drawn from recent news headlines and conversations with planning professionals.
Urban Planners, Butt Out!
The authors of one study assert that vibrant cities can't be engineered by the application of "nuanced criteria"; however, this has very much become the paradigm of urban planning.
Navigating Shared-Space Streets in the US
At a time when motorists have a smorgasbord of distractions to contend with, select US streets take a taste of a Scandinavian recipe for street design, where pedestrians, cyclists, other motorists, and even trees are blended together intuitively.
Branding Sustainability
Las Vegas' Union Park is a LEED-certified development that sits on a revitalized brownfield, but with no shortage of Vegas' glitz. Can smart growth be as marketable as it is environmentally good?
Not Quite Urban, Not Quite Suburban
One city in Virginia has gone from suburban to (quasi-)urban in just a few years.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
