Community / Economic Development
Community Development Through Pie
A new community kitchen and pie-baking program in small town Alabama is trying to help a struggling and impoverished area rebound.
Recession-Proof Small Cities
In 2009, smaller metro areas benefited from increased government spending while many of the country’s wealthiest areas saw incomes decrease.
New Study Reveals Poverty Growing Twice as Fast in Suburbs
A Brookings Study of census data finds that since 2000, the number of poor people in the suburbs jumped by 37.4% to 13 million and "the growth rate of suburban poverty is more than double that of cities."
Las Vegas Faces Unique Road to Recovery
While other parts of the country see economic improvement, Las Vegas continues to experience the deepest crisis of its modern history. Is its leisure-based economy to blame?
A Tale of Two Tall Towers
Josh Leon reports on his time "around two instructive pieces of vertical architecture that could presumably be competitors in a transoceanic race between the US and China for economic hegemony."
Downtown Dallas Breaks Freeways' Concrete Stranglehold
Dallas is hoping to break the ring of concrete created by the surrounding Central Expressway and Interstates 30 and 35.
New Report Proposes Ways to Combat L.A.'s "Food Deserts"
A new report from The Los Angeles Food Policy Task Force calls for the government to take steps to increase accessibility to local, healthy food in urban areas.
The Solution to Food Deserts: WalMart?
Activists who want to solve the problem of "food deserts" in underserved areas push for co-ops and and independent grocery stores. But would large chains like WalMart be a better solution?
Why "Top 10 Cities" Lists Are Impossible to Resist
Publishers and marketing folks admit that the barrage of lists titled "Top 10 Places To...." is inspired purely by the public's inability to resist clicking them.
Main Street, U.S.A.
Rick Wright is the Executive Director of MainStreet Oceanside, and is attending the California Downtown Association conference. But Rick also edits MiceChat, a blog for Disney obsessives, and this week he features Main Streets, Disney and otherwise.
Picher, OK: Toxic Town
Most of the bullets made for WWI and II came out of the ground under Picher, Oklahoma. The minerals ran out in 1970, and the OK government bought out residents of the city to get them to leave. A handful of people stayed.
Dubai Calms Down
After nearly collapsing under the pressure of a free-wheeling building boom, Dubai is on the rebound. A new internal accounting effort is trying to explore what went wrong and how to avoid those mistakes in the future.
Looking for Livability in Congress
Grist talks with Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon about congressional efforts to integrate ideas of livability into communities and policy.
Small Town Bucks Trend, Lowers Property Tax
While cities across the country are raising fees to counteract the recession, the village of Schaumburg, Illinois is bucking the trend and decreasing or even eliminating municipal fees.
Building Takes More Realistic Pace in Dubai
Once the site of a seemingly endless string of outlandish building projects, Dubai has shaken off the dust from the market crash and resumed building less flashy projects at a steadier pace.
Community-Led Efforts Unseen in New Orleans
Looking back on five years of recovery in post-Katrina New Orleans, Roberta Brandes Gratz bemoans the fact that much of the community-based work remains below the radar.
Plotting the Future of Austin Amid Major Change
With more than 750,00 people expected to add on to the city's population over the next 30 years, officials and locals in Austin are trying to map out how the city should grow and change to handle the influx.
Art Event Brings in Bucks for Grand Rapids
"Art works," says Jason Schupbach of the NEA. And in Grand Rapids, Michigan, it really does, where the yearly ArtPrize event draws in an estimated $5-7 million in economic impact each year.
The Post-Olympics Neighborhood
For a few weeks in 2012 a part of East London will be host to 20,000 journalists. After the Summer Olympics, though, the area set to host the media will be a mixed use neighborhood of nearly 3,000 homes, if all goes as planned.
Troubled Times for Sun Belt Cities
Recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show that poverty is at a high point in America. Hit especially hard is the Sun Belt.
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
