Community / Economic Development

Richard Florida on the Perils of Gentrification
Florida discusses a recent study that emphasizes how new the back-to-the-city movement is, how white it is, and what that means for the people it pushes out.
Friday Eye Candy: The Poetry of the Urban
A survey of the long history of poetry connected of the urban experience—from the 18th century to the Beat poets of the 20th century and the Hip Hop artists of today.

Pushing for Universal Access in the New Urban Agenda
The New Urban Agenda, which sets a new global strategy for sustainable urbanization, still has shortcomings regarding universal access for people with special needs.

New Orleans Leverages New Federal Housing Rule as Gentrification Tool
New Orleans is among the first cities to respond to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Affirmatively Furthering Affordable Housing rule.
High Hopes for New Developments in the Chicago Neighborhood of Englewood
Chicago's Englewood neighborhood recently saw the opening of a Whole Foods, Starbucks, and other retailers in a bit of a good news, for a neighborhood that's challenged by low employment and high violence.

Los Angeles Leader Steps Up On Homelessness Crisis
Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, a veteran leader at the city, county, and state-level, addresses the funding gaps to address this urgent issue and shares some innovative models being deployed by the county.
Planning for a Microgrid: Santa Monica Reclaims Industrial Space for Renewable Energy
Cities throughout California, including Santa Monica, have been awarded research and development funding through the California Energy Commission to plan community-scale microgrid solutions.

Why New Affordable Housing Draws the Short Straw in Los Angeles
Cecilia Estolano, former Executive Director of Los Angeles’s Community Redevelopment Agency, diagnoses why the region has been unable to provide housing for working-class citizens.

Critiquing the $1.9 Billion Project to Widen I-5 in Los Angeles County
Streetsblog slams Caltrans for wasting $1.9 billion on futile freeway widening projects.

Leadership Shakeup at the Atlanta BeltLine
All is not well at the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, after two prominent board members, including Ryan Gravel, who originally proposed the idea for the BeltLine, resigned this week.

Downtown L.A.'s Chinese Real Estate Cycle
Chinese developers are pouring money into high-rise housing projects in Los Angeles. But will these be pieds-a-terre for absent buyers? And how are developers dealing with the American regulatory environment?

Tale of Two Cities: A U.S.-Mexico Bike Trail
Election rhetoric aside, towns on the U.S.-Mexico border share common urban challenges. A proposal is in the works to connect Brownsville, Texas and the Mexican city of Matamoros via bike path.

'The Well-Tempered City': An Epic Book, and Why
In a review of Jonathan F.P. Rose's new book, 'The Well-Tempered City,' Chuck Wolfe enthusiastically endorses Rose's refreshing world view.

Clean Power Plan Showdown in U.S. Appeals Court on Tuesday
The Obama Administration's most powerful environmental initiative, the Clean Power Plan, was put on hold by the Supreme Court last February. It was heard by 10 judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. on September 27.

London Housing Prices Drive 30-Year-Olds Out of the City
Study finds 30-somethings in London leaving the city in increasing numbers.

Geographers Seek Patterns and Solutions to Help Declining American Cities
Geographers publish results of a two-year study on declining cities around the country in a new book, "Shrinking Cities: Understanding Urban Decline in the United States."

Cleveland–East Cleveland Merger Plan Overlooks Main Issue
East Cleveland, a struggling suburb of Cleveland, has ended up in so much fiscal distress that it is considering allowing Cleveland to annex it as a desperation move. We may need to rethink our decades of assumptions about home rule in the Northeast.

There Goes the Neighborhood: Oh No, Not Burning Man!
Ben Brown unpacks the components of polarization. Recognizing some people are really pissed off for some really good reasons doesn’t seem to help us make better decisions, whether we’re talking about electing a president or planning a park.

In Brooklyn's Navy Yard, a New Manufacturing Incubator
New Lab repurposes a gritty shipbuilding warehouse, giving manufacturing startups the support that software firms get from your typical incubator.

101 Small Actions With Big Effects in Cities
The Curbed team has compiled a laundry list of creative and effective ways for people to give some love to their cities.
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