Redevelopment

Tax watchdogs in Idaho are challenging the state's redevelopment agencies, and opened up the question: are they city departments, or not? And if they are, shouldn't their decisions follow the will of the voters?

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the MPO for the Philadelphia metropolitan region, has introduced an innovate way of making people aware of the benefits of older, established suburbs: market them.

As Beijing undergoes rapid redevelopment, many historic buildings have been lost in the scramble. Now the few that remain are inspiring a flood of gentrification.

The City of Miami is pushing a new 'mega-plan' that rolls a stadium, tunnel, public park, trolley system, and bailout into one $3 billion dollar deal. Miamians, including local car dealer Norman Braman, are pushing back.

In the Washington D.C.-suburb of Tysons Corner, plans for a major downtown redevelopment hinge on one basic issue: parking.

It's known as the Iron Triangle, though some call the sewerless 13-block collection of auto junkyards just east of Shea Stadium an eyesore and disgrace. A controversial application of eminent domain is at the heart of the $3 billion makeover plan.

James S. Russell comments on the $1 billion deal to redevelop Hudson Yards, and finds the plan lacking in vision.

In California's Inland Empire, abandoned houses are plentiful- the fallout from the subprime mortgage mess. Bill Fulton reports on what some cites are doing to keep the abandoned houses from dragging down neighborhoods.

Hoping to head off a competing ballot measure, Miami-based developer Lennar Corp. has voluntarily agreed to set aside 3,200 of the planned 10,000 homes on San Francisco's Hunters and Candlestick Point for low- and moderate-income families.

Efforts to redevelop a blighted commercial plaza in South Los Angeles have proved fruitless -- angering residents who say the city has ignored them and allowed taxpayer money to be wasted. Questions remain about the developer's financial dealings.

Once supported by the Mayor and Massachusetts Port Authority, plans to enhance Boston's Black Falcon cruise boat terminal are now up in the air.

Urban infill developments are slated to transform the vast industrial land between Charleston and North Charleston, South Carolina, known as "the Neck" area, into live-work communities that stitch the two cities together.

Plans to redevelop Asia's largest slum will displace over 1 million people, many of whom earn their livelihood recycling Mumbai's trash.

California water quality regulators continue to levy ever-tougher standards for stormwater runoff. But the standards could impact development and cities in a way that is not best for the environment at large.

Business and property owners in Willets Point, Queens have filed suit against New York City officials, claiming the city has deprived the area of basic services in order to declare the community blighted and begin redevelopment proceedings.

California's redevelopment agencies are feeling pressure on numerous fronts these days. Some may go out of business next year. Still, state lawmakers are considering giving the agencies authority to buy out subprime mortgages.

A arcane provision in the New York City Charter that increases the threshold for a zoning change approval to a three-fourths vote of the city council may help opponents defeat a proposed rezoning of 125th Street in Harlem.

In this piece from The New York Times criticizes plans for a railyard redevelopment in Manhattan as overblown and lacking architectural ambition.

Proposed housing developments in the urban core of Waco, Texas, have given many in the city high hopes for a denser, more vibrant central city.

Poor planning is allowing uncontrolled and rapid gentrification to destroy Toronto's Liberty Village neighborhood, according to this article from The Toronto Star.