Community / Economic Development

Berkeley Wants to Fund a Tent City for the Homeless
The city of Berkeley has a radical idea for how to build more transitional housing for its sizable homeless population.
Art in the Face of Gentrification
Art and culture tend to be integral to helping disenfranchised communities self-identify, develop their identities, and organize around place-based issues. But its presence can also be used be used by real estate interests to market neighborhoods.

Education and Nutrition Flourish Together
"A hungry world is not a just world," says one of the local residents quoted in this story about a community garden in Denver.

Study: 'Eyes on the Street' Have Real Value for Neighborhood Safety
The first study to make an attempt at quantifying the value of "eyes on street"—an idea most eloquently described by Jane Jacobs—offers reason to support a mix of uses, with businesses operating later in the evening.
Amazon's Mobile Stores Rolling Out Nationwide
Amazon's Treasure Trucks hawk everything from GoPros to poke bowls and Harry Potter books.

Like City, Like Stadium
Beloved as it is, Dodger Stadium did not come easily to Los Angeles. Its development was fraught with protests, political rivalries, and debates over public investment and urbanism. Those debates continue today.
New Poll Shows Broad, Bipartisan Support for Hiking Federal Gas Tax
A majority of Americans of both parties support raising the gas tax to pay for road improvements. Could it provide the source of the $200 billion in federal funds for Trump's $1 trillion infrastructure plan?

Coffee With Your Gentrification?
The Los Angeles Times published a pair of incendiary articles this week in which coffee plays an integral role in the conversation about gentrification.

How Planners Can Liberate the Next Amazon
The path to business success occasionally passes through the garage—famously demonstrated by industry titans like Amazon or Hewlett Packard. Zoning codes should encourage, not obstruct, these kinds of American success stories.

Cleveland Clinic Lacks a Prescription for its Community
According to an article by Dan Diamond, the Cleveland Clinic is a worldwide success story, but the community surround the hospital "remains mired in poverty."

An Investigation of Affordable Housing Failure on the Atlanta Beltline
An investigative collaboration between the Georgia News Lab and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has produced a scathing critique of Atlanta Beltline Inc., the organization shepherding one of the nation's most ambitious public works projects.

The Poetic Grid Maps the Lyrics of Place
There's only one requirement to qualify for Seattle's Poetic Grid project: write a poem about a specific place.

Suburban Poverty in the Denver Region Compares Favorably to National Averages
A more nuanced understanding of suburban poverty is available from an examination of the Denver region.

Friday Friendly: More Houses Should Have Patios in the Front
With so many houses oriented to the privacy of backyards, one street in St. Louis has redefined neighborly by orienting their sitting and relaxation areas to the front yard.
Artificial Intelligence Unlocks the Secrets of Neighborhood Change
Researchers at MIT and Harvard believe that their computer vision system (i.e., artificial intelligence) helps reveal fundamental characteristics of neighborhood change.

Op-Ed: Out-Of-Town Architects Miss a Huge Opportunity
A Cleveland architect offers a scathing critique of the design choices made by one of the city's cultural institutions.

Emory University Wants in to the City of Atlanta
Emory University wants the city of Atlanta to annex its campus. Transit benefits and more could await.
A Female Approach to Commercial Revitalization
Auburn Boulevard in the city of Citrus Heights, California is a case study of what urban strategist Michele Reeves calls the "female approach to economic development."

A Comprehensive Plan for Westeros? Same Issues, More Swordplay
Game of Thrones provides way more sex, blood, and dragons than your typical comprehensive planning project, but the dynamics can be instructive, particularly in places where demand for the high-quality amenities of urbanism out-paces the supply.

Safe for Now, Brooklyn Music Mecca Sees a Cloudy Future
More than 20 percent of New York's smaller music venues have closed in the past 15 years. Although Brooklyn institution Barbes was recently saved by a crowdfunding campaign, its founder is pessimistic about the future of New York's independent arts.
Pagination
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service