Arizona

Immigrants Leaving Phoenix Before New Laws, Leave Empty Communities Behind

July 29th is the day Arizona's new tough illegal immigration law goes into effect. As immigrants flee the state in fear of being arrested, neighborhoods are emptying and small businesses are feeling the lack of customers.

July 28, 2010 - The Los Angeles Times

Save the Soleri Amphitheater

Officials in Santa Fe have announced plans to demolish an amphitheater designed by architect Paolo Soleri, the visionary behind the as-yet-unfinished Arcosanti project. David Licata says it deserves to be saved.

July 5, 2010 - David Licata

Funding Permanent Housing for the Homeless in Tempe

Officials in Tempe, Arizona and Maricopa County are using federal stimulus money to help end chronic homelessness by providing permanent housing options.

June 20, 2010 - The Arizona Republic

A Paolo Soleri Structure In Danger

Urban designer Paolo Soleri - best known for his utopian experiment Arcosanti - also designed an open air theater for the Santa Fe Indian School. The campus wants to demolish it, but preservationists are up in arms.

June 18, 2010 - The Architect's Newspaper

Building Boom In Land Of Foreclosures

It seems inconceivable - building new homes next to new, vacant homes, but with depressed prices for land and labor a new market for home-buyers who missed out on foreclosure sales has developed in states hit worst by the housing crisis.

May 17, 2010 - The New York Times - Business Day

Transit Officials Broaden Vision for Phoenix Light Rail

Changing demographics and transit demands in the Phoenix area are causing transit planners to rethink where the region's light rail system should expand.

April 20, 2010 - The Arizona Republic

Immigrants Remain Uneasy About Census

Illegal immigrants in Arizona are wary about the Census, and are planning to avoid enumerators. But other illegal immigrants without the right to vote see the count as their only option for having a positive impact on their communities.

March 31, 2010 - NPR

Deciding Which Homeowners To Bail Out

The Feds have $1.5 billion to help homeowners at risk of losing homes to foreclosure. Deciding just which homeowners to help is no easy task. This article looks at the decision-making process in Arizona, one of the five states receiving federal aid.

March 24, 2010 - The New York Times - Business

Banks Swing Hammers to Finish Homes

Builders can't get credit but they may get jobs from banks, who, because of foreclosures, have unfinished homes that they need help completing.

March 2, 2010 - Wall Street Journal

Metro Areas Organizing Themselves Towards Regional Goals

Metropolitan officials in the Sun Corridor of Arizona are increasingly working together to form a self-organized super-region, according to this analysis.

February 22, 2010 - The New Republic

Air Force Quashes Unborn NIMBYism in Arizona

As a preventive measure to avoid future NIMBYism, an Air Force base in Arizona has effectively blocked the spread of residential development close to its borders.

February 4, 2010 - The Arizona Republic

Arizona Eyes a Nuclear Future

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has come out as a strong proponent of bringing nuclear power back into the state's energy fold.

January 7, 2010 - The Arizona Republic

Civic Engagement Low in Arizona

A new study finds that while Arizona residents like where they live, they have low levels of civic engagement.

December 18, 2009 - The Arizona Republic

Ancient Irrigators

Irrigation canals dating back to the year 1200 B.C. were discovered in Arizona this year, answering a long-asked question about how natives were able to farm the arid land.

December 13, 2009 - Archaeology

Tribal Battle Results in No Development for 40 Years

In 1968, the Bureau of Indian Affairs put a freeze on development in an area of Arizona that the Navajo and Hopi both claimed until the tribes could settle. It wasn't until 2006 that an agreement was reached.

November 5, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

From Foreclosure to Green TOD in Phoenix

Foreclosed homes in Phoenix are a new goldmine for one developer, who is buying up land near the city's mass transit lines and marketing properties as transit oriented development.

October 17, 2009 - NPR

Intermountain West: Off the Map for HSR Plans

Planners from Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno met this week to discuss plans for high-speed rail between their cities, since they've been left off the map of potential corridors to be funded by the stimulus package.

October 9, 2009 - The Arizona Republic

400 Miles of New Highways

That's what the Maricopa Association of Governments is proposing, to meet the needs of the millions projected to move into the Phoenix metro area by 2050, along with 320 miles of new rail transit. Some are questioning the population projections.

September 28, 2009 - The Arizona Republic

UnSprawl Case Study: Agritopia in Gilbert, Arizona

Crafted with a sort of evangelical "New Ruralism," the 166-acre Agritopia neighborhood east of Phoenix mixes gardens, pastures, orchards, restaurants, lush trails, and more with historically inspired homes designed to bring neighbors together.

September 24, 2009 - Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments

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.

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