Community / Economic Development
Nextdoor, the Social Media Platform for Neighbors, Makes Changes to Reduce Racial Profiling
How Nextdoor responded to racial profiling on its platform should serve as an example to other forms of social media.
Air Pollution from Natural Gas Industry in Pennsylvania on the Rise
With a 32 percent increase in natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, it is no surprise that emissions are increasing as well, particularly sulfur dioxide. However, the increase was dwarfed by decreases from the power sector.
Rust Belt Revival: Pittsburgh's New Economy
When Uber announced this month that it would test-run its fleet of self-driving cars in the Steel City, many probably asked, "why Pittsburgh?" Unlike other post-industrial places, it's been incubating a 21st-century economy.
The Danger of Buying By the Sea
Zillow has released research on how many of the nation's homes may be underwater (literally) by the year 2100. Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Louisiana are at the highest risk.
Earned Income Should Not Replace Public Funding for Community Development
Our plan was to seek out community-based organizations trying to back away from developer fees, pursuing recent implications that smaller organizations should consider leaving development work to more efficient, larger ones. We found none.
Sacramento Rising: Mayor-Elect Darrell Steinberg's Vision for Sustainable Communities
Mayor-Elect Steinberg enters City Hall as a leader with a unique opportunity to enact sustainable infill policies he championed in the California Legislature.
A Developer's Plan to Build a Mormon Utopia in Vermont Hits Opposition
Plans drawn up for a new, futuristic 20,000-person community in Sharon, Vermont, based on town plans originally conceived by Church of Latter Day Saints founder Joseph Smith, have hit a roadblock with locals and the church itself.
New York Ready to Focus Revitalization Efforts in Far Rockaway
A Politico article describes the Far Rockaway neighborhood as still reeling from the effects of Superstorm Sandy and a history of underinvestment. The city is ready to launch a $91 million redevelopment effort to change all that.
Los Angeles' Neighborhood Integrity Initiative Presents Demands to City Leaders
Last week, leaders of the initiative to curb development in L.A. surprisingly presented Mayor Eric Garcetti with an ultimatum: Agree to their list of demands by August 24, or they will take the issue to the March 2017 ballot.
East Los Angeles Community Groups Prove that Community Planning Matters
The landscape of community development in Los Angeles today differs vastly from even a few years ago. Two groups in East L.A. are developing solutions to accelerating gentrification and displacement and a compounding affordable housing crisis.
Op-Ed: Stay Expensive, New York—It Helps the Rest of the U.S.
Here's a controversial assertion: expensive, desirable cities are doing everyone else a favor by forcing people to move.
Moscow's Erratic Shift Towards a Walkable City
Moscow's Mayor has pushed an agenda to beautify the city, create social spaces, and make the city more walkable, but critics see the move towards walkability as more of a forced march.
Poor Urban Planning and the Birth of Hip Hop
An architect known as the Hip-Hop Architect explains how the planning decisions of the 20th century served as muse and breeding ground for the multi-million-dollar industry of hip hop.
'Rust Belt Chic' Not Enough to Attract Millennials in Some Cities
The city of Toledo, Ohio provides a case study in how the best intentions of attracting degree-holding Millennials can come up short.
Suburban Woes Follow After Companies Depart for Cities
It's not bad enough that the Northeast is losing population to the South and West. As companies decamp from the suburbs, pristine communities, many where apartments are outlawed, are seeing a steady decline in housing values.
Horsey! Grassroots Public Art Connects People, Past, and Present
Never underestimate the power of whimsy in the built environment. A genuine and unconditional spirit of welcome and inclusion can be found in the most unexpected forms of participatory art.
Building Permanent Paths out of Poverty
One Tanzanian nonprofit is putting the focus on skill-building to fight poverty. David Lambert, an engineer with Arup, discusses the nonprofit's latest endeavor, a new vocational school near the town of Same.
Six U.S. Cities to Workshop the Methodologies of Tactical Urbanism
Funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, a recently announced series of tactical urbanism workshops will take place in six U.S. cities.
New Jersey Gas Tax Standoff Leaves Construction Workers in the Lurch
The plight of laid-off laborers who had been repaving a New Jersey bridge illustrates that people suffer as well as infrastructure and mobility when transportation funding bills fail to pass.
The Los Angeles Mystery
A blog post exploring why Los Angeles is more car-dependent than some less dense cities.
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
