United States

While plenty of investors and homeowners are feeling the pain of the current real estate market, groups trying to protect land from development are welcoming the downturn.

Urban farms are popping up in New York and elsewhere, providing residents with access to fresh, affordable produce.

Transit operators around the country are looking at ways to make taking public transportation even more environmentally friendly.

A new report examines the impacts of the mortgage meltdown on rental housing.

The Federal Reserve has announced plans to help community non-profits to acquire foreclosed homes for use as affordable housing.

If driving less makes prices fall -- will Americans respond by driving more?

In an incredible recycling operation that reduces global warming, a waste hauler is building a facility to produce Liquefied Natural Gas from methane emitted from its California landfill to fuel its garbage trucks.

From unemployment to rising rents to widespread foreclosures, many major problems face Americans. In his latest column, Neal Peirce argues that planners are the ones who can formulate a broad solution.

This article from The Washington Post looks at what local municipalities are doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Small car sales, especially hybrids and subcompacts, are jumping while pickups and SUV sales plummet, contributing to a reduction in gas consumption. The $3.50 gallon mark may have been key to influencing vehicle selection as well as driver behavior.

The bursting of the housing bubble may be tied to rising gas prices, according to one economist.

Americans who've lost their homes to foreclosure are now looking to rent, tightening up already low vacancy rates and driving up prices. Meanwhile, foreclosed homes sit empty.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters (or, more likely, her communications team) has taken up blogging, but the new PR outlet comes with a title that's not so friendly to all modes of transportation.

The American Lung Association has released its 2008 State of the Air report, which ranks cities with the worst air pollution.

For thousands of years, fountains always featured a water basin. Then landscape architect Peter Walker designed Harvard University's Tanner Fountain, and a revolutionary new idea was born.

While cities are eager to encourage businesses to go green, many government incentive programs are not designed with small businesses in mind.

With gas averaging $3.45 a gallon, the U.S. still only ranks as the 110th most expensive place to buy gas -- out of 155 countries.

Smaller, environmentally friendly homes -- ranging from as much as 1000 to as little as 70 square feet -- are a hot trend in modern architecture. Eco-conscious (and wallet-conscious) buyers are increasingly interested in these new "micro mansions".

In the current issue of Housing Policy Debate, Reid Ewing and Fang Rong argue that sprawling urban form contributes to higher residential energy use. Two responses -- one from Samuel Staley and another by John Randolph -- rebut the paper.