United States
Green Economy Coming Despite Downturn
Good green jobs are on the way - just not right away due to recession. Stimulus funds - not just from U.S. but many nations are investing in their economies by targeting renewable energy, smart electricity grids, energy efficiency, and more.
Public Places More Necessary In Bad Economy
Jay Walljasper argues that the need for accessible, vibrant public space grows along with the bad times.
New Director Named to EPA's Smart Growth Office
John W. Frece spend two decades as a reporter writing about growth and development before working as press officer for Gov. Parris N. Glendening. Today, he's a leading force in the smart growth movement.
What Will be the Impact of the "Non-Profit Bubble"?
For years, not-for-profit agencies were relied upon to cover social and housing services formerly provided by governments. Now that municipal and state budgets are drying up along with foundation grants, NGOs are losing their funding sources.
Energy Boom Will Lead To Energy Shortage
$147 per barrel oil prices set off a frenzy of new domestic oil drilling that has all but ceased with $46 per barrel. The drop in natural gas drilling has been even more pronounced. When demand returns, domestic oil and gas supplies will likely not.
Translating the Stimulus: What it Means for Energy
$16.8 billion of Pres. Obama's stimulus package is allocated to energy efficiency and renewable energy. Steve Coll of the New Yorker explains where the funding is going, and what it means.
Taking Cities Beyond the Greenwash
The idea of sustainability is growing up, and as concerns about the environment take hold in cities from the bottom up, some are calling for a more sophisticated approach to "green" city development, write Anthony Flint and William Shutkin.
Stimulus Has Good News for Cities
Next American City's Jeffrey Hill reads through the federal stimulus bill to find good news for cities.
TIME Says Recycle the Suburbs
In a recent feature in Time Magazine called 'Ten Ideas Changing the World Right Now,' no. 2 on the list is 'Recycling the Suburbs.'
Obama Taps D.C. CTO Who Opened Up City Data
Vivek Kundra, the Washington D.C. chief technology officer who created an innovative publicly accessible database of city information, will be heading to a new office in D.C. -- at the White House.
Carbon Capture A Ploy?
CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) is an abbreviation that may become more common if the coal industry has its way. But The Economist argues that carbon taxes are a better way to improve the environment than investing in CCS technology.
New Urbanists 1, Sprawl 0
Fast Company blogger Michael Cannell says the economic crisis stands to make big winners out of the new urbanists.
Is the Record Store Dead?
The imminent closing of the Virgin Megastore in New York City may be a sign that the traditional music store will soon be extinct.
Feds Stop Stimulus Swap
Officials in Southern California cities that had hoped to trade off their share of federal stimulus funds for transportation projects to other cities have been denied by Congress, which is calling on municipalities to use the money as intended.
Housing on the Rise in American Metros
Cities are increasingly taking on a larger share of new residential development, according to a new analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Public Transit Ridership at 52-Year High
Since the creation of the Interstate highway system, Americans have never ridden public transportation as heavily as they did in 2008. This year, however, the upward trend will probably not continue.
Obama Rejects Gas Tax, VMT Fee
Ray LaHood rejected raising the gas tax, then President Obama rejected a vehicle-miles-traveled fee. What's left is "out-of-the-box" ideas like tolling and public-private-partnerships.
Commercial Vacancies Hit Tax Rolls Hard
As commercial vacancies increase, cities are feeling the pain of lower tax revenues.
Road Funding: Doing More With Less
Roads and bridges are crumbling in America. The Highway Trust Fund is broke and new revenue other than stimulus funds are unlikely, so some state transportation officials are applying innovative methods to spread the road funding they have secured.
Pagination
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
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