Community / Economic Development
China's Rail Revolution
Extensive investments in rail are slashing travel times in China, and creating a vastly more connected and accessible country.
Coalition Promises $4 Billion to Green Affordable Housing
A collection of non-profits working with HUD is promising to spend $4 billion on updating affordable housing across the country to be more sustainable.
Jane Jacobs, Economic Guru?
Jacobs' ideas about urban planning bumped her to the top of her Top Urban Thinkers list, but economists are turning to her other books to rethink local economies.
What Does Main Street Look Like?
What does Main Street America look like today? A journalist, a public radio producer, and two Harvard PhD students set out to visit actual Main Streets across the country to find out.
Residential Construction Declines Sharply in New York City
2009 is expected to turn out as a bad year for residential constructoin in New York City. After five consecutive years with more than 30,000 units constructed, at total of 6,300 are expected this year.
The Barcelona Model of Reviving Industrial Areas
American cities are struggling to figure out how to transition formerly industrial areas to become vibrant and successful parts of the city once again. Neal Peirce says they should look to Barcelona, which accomplished it ten years ago.
Las Vegas: A Model of America's Problems
The problems facing urban America can be exemplified by looking at the city of Las Vegas, according to this piece from the Brookings Institution's Mark Muro.
Redeveloping Brooklyn's Waterfront Wasteland?
Developers and NYC's Mayor Bloomberg have hit a speed bump in revitalizing the Gowanus Canal. It may be designated as a Superfund site.
'Local' is the New 'Green'
Global corporations like Frito Lay and Barnes and Noble are attempting to co-opt the word 'local' into their branding.
A Call for More Docks on the Hudson
Cities along the Hudson River in New York are pushing plans to build more docks along the waterfront.
Recession Changing Geography of Poverty
New data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that the first year of the recession has taken a harsh toll and that these impacts are being particularly felt in three key regions in the country.
Japan Seeks to End Wasteful Spending on Projects, Meets Local Opposition
Japan wants to end its spending on wasteful construction projects, which are the cause of the country's massive debt. But for one small town on the verge of losing a dam, the "wasteful" project is the center of the local economy.
Testing Grounds
Housing development, architecture and community building have found a new learning lab in the lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.
LEED-ND Is Go
LEED for Neighborhood Design (LEED-ND) is approved to become a permanent certification program.
From Memories to Master Plans
Maine mill town asks citizens to record their memories at downtown "Heart Spots" as part of the master planning process.
42nd Street Light Rail?
Vision 42 has proposed closing NYC's 42nd Street to car traffic and adding light rail along its length. The Mayor isn't interested, but lots of others are.
Is Bright Right or Blight?
A proposal to create a new outdoor advertising district in San Francisco has some locals anticipating a retail revival, while others dread the possible billboard blight.
LaHood to Detroit: Don't Worry About High-Speed Rail
Speaking to the Detroit Economic Club recently, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood addressed high-speed rail, Detroit's bus crisis, and the economic future of the area.
Bypassing the Blockade: Risky Business
In order to cope with the Israeli blockade, millions of dollars have been invested in tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. Israel has bombed many of them. Now investors want their money back.
Economic Development or Poaching Business?
States across the US are stepping up their efforts to attract business from outside their borders. New Hampshire woos investors from its neighbors and the California-Nevada rivalry heats up.
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
