United States
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.
Kotkin's 'New Localism'
Joel Kotkin thinks that the effects of the financial crisis may not be all bad, and may even encourage a new focus on family and community ties.
A Way Out of the Housing Mess?
Joseph Nocera reports on a proposal to rescue homeowners that lets people live in their homes, and doesn't require any government money.
Home Prices Expected to Keep Falling
Home prices are falling across the country, but there are signs that they're not done falling yet.
EPA Failing to Control Urban Runoff
The Environmental Protection Agency has not done enough to control pollution from stormwater runoff in urban areas, according to a report from the National Academy of Sciences.
When Financial Bridges Fail
Martin H. Krieger compares the lack of oversight involved in today's financial crisis with the transparency and responsibility involved in making bridges.
Climate Protection Jeopardized By Financial Crisis & Recession
The worldwide credit crisis will affect the ability of the developed world to tackle climate change. Businesses in Europe and U.S. are asking for delays in meeting emission reductions mandates notwithstanding the drop in oil prices.
Amtrak Reauthorization & Safety Bill Signed
Two weeks after Congress passed HR 2095, Bush signed this bill to double Amtrak funding and mandate safety technology to prevent Metrolink-like crashes. It may be a precursor to greatly expanded transit spending in the next administration.
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.
Best Cities To Live in During a Recession
Business Week looks for the most recession-proof cities, using as their main criteria an abundance of jobs in stable industries like government, health care, and education.
The Presidential Election and the Future of America's Transportation
The federal transportation spending bill will be up for reauthorization in 2009. The fate of the nation's transportation will hinge on how this bill is reworked, which will largely be determined by who wins this November's presidential election.
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.
Developers Can't Find The Money
Commercial real estate developers go into detail on the impact of the financial crisis on their ability to make projects happen.
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.
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.
Creating A More Wildlife-Friendly Interstate
Roads are to blame for interfering with and "boxing in" various animals' migratory patterns, sending ecologists on the hunt for new solutions to get wildlife moving.
Will Cheaper Gas Cause Increased Driving?
As oil prices plunge to well below $100/barrel, will Americans reverse all their fuel-efficient behavior learned from $145 oil seen in July? It appears that the economic crisis may continue where the energy crisis left off.
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
