Community / Economic Development

Details of Nashville's Deal With Amazon Revealed
Nashville was a surprise benefactor of the Amazon HQ2 announcement earlier this month. Amazon will definitely benefit from the deal as well.

Detroit Program Keeps Homeowners Facing Foreclosure Housed
The buyback plan diverts properties from Wayne County's tax foreclosure auction, keeping them in government hands until residents can repay the purchase price.

A New 'SeeClickFix' App, but for Poop
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

$1 Billion Ovation Project to Break Ground in Metro Cincinnati in 2019
A mixed-use project planned for 35 acres in the city of Newport, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, is ready to break ground after ten years of planning.

St. Louis Lawsuits Focus on Delinquent Properties
Special suits give property owners an opportunity to fix up rundown properties before the city sells them.

Amazon's New Home in New York a 'Distressed' Opportunity Zone
Concerns about the Opportunity Zone program created by the GOP tax bill passed in the waning hours of 2017—that it would enable gentrification and displacement for the profit of wealthy investors—won't be assuaged by this news.

White People Don't Recognize Black Middle Class Neighborhoods
According to a series of studies, white people have a blindness for seeing the black middle class in neighborhoods—even if they don't display other forms of racial animus.

Pacific Northwest Gears Up for Another Fossil Fuel Export Fight
Just two years after killing what would be the world's largest methanol plant at the Port of Tacoma, the project has reemerged at the Port of Kalama. According to the EIS for the plant, global CO2 emissions will be reduced, though increased locally.

Watch Saturday Night Live's Hilarious Take on Amazon's HQ2 Decision
Saturday Night Love comes up with a novel hot take on the thinking behind Amazon's decision to split its new second headquarters between New York City and Northern Virginia.

Map Divvying Up Cleveland Resembles Redlining Maps of the Past
Cleveland neighborhoods were coded to help real estate investors, but the result is a map that harks back to old discriminatory housing practices, say critics.
48 Global Cities Work on Regulatory Framework for Digital Platforms
During the Sharing Cities Summit 2018, cities such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid, Montreal, New York, Paris, São Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, Stockholm, and Vienna agreed on a Declaration of Principles and Commitments of the Sharing Cities.

Arizona Event Venues Don't Seem to Make Fiscal Sense, But City Leaders Say They’re Worth the Losses
Convention and arts centers are costly and lose lots of money, but cities still build and advocate for them.

Friday Funny: The Onion Says the Subway Is Reserved for Amazon Employees Now
A totally fake news story, intended to satirize, not provide any factual information, makes fun of how much New York City's political leadership gave to Amazon to make sure HQ2 would call the Big Apple home.

Details of Philadelphia's $181 Million, Voter Approved Bond
Voters approved a $181 million municipal bond to fund public works investments around the city.

Defining Qualities of Digitally Inclusive Cities
Brookings analyzes the characteristics of the local economy of eight American cities succeeding in bridging the digital divide.

New Virginia Tech 'Innovation Campus' Helped Woo Amazon to Arlington
According to an announcement by Virginia Tech yesterday, their plans to build a $1 billion innovation campus in nearby Alexandria helped win the HQ2 prize for Northern Virginia.

Updated: Complete Coverage of Amazon's HQ2 Decision
The official news of Amazon's choices for its second location broke this morning, but hot takes were streaming in all day.

The Problems With Tax Increment Financing and How to Fix Them
Tax increment financing (TIF) districts are common in municipalities across the country. However, the economic development tool is also poorly understood and often the target of criticism.

Amazon Makes It Official With New York and D.C.; Throws Another Curveball With Nashville
The reported selection of New York and Washington, D.C. as the dual winners of the Amazon HQ2 competition was officially announced this morning. Still, Amazon wasn't done with the surprises.

Tools for Addressing the Suburbanization of Poverty
Suburban poverty is reading, here are a few ways to understand what that means.
Pagination
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service