Community / Economic Development

Rising Real Estate Prices Pushing Out Portland Small Businesses

The city's attractiveness has bred gentrification of many neighborhoods, and small businesses and creative types are fleeing for cheaper pastures.

March 19, 2007 - The Oregonian

Downtown Revitalization Reinvigorates Urban Congregations

The new wave of residents in downtown Orlando are helping to resurrect long-time churches that never fled to the suburbs.

March 19, 2007 - The Orlando Sentinel

Can A 'Zipper Zone' Reconnect Intown Memphis?

A top architect is advocating the use of zoning and urban design to transform a key urban thoroughfare into a "zipper" bringing together many of the city's top assets and neighborhoods.

March 19, 2007 - Memphis Commercial-Appeal

Urban Village: The Game

A Wayne State University professor has created an urban planning simulation game that allows Detroiters to change a neighborhood along Mack Avenue, one of the city's major thoroughfares.

March 19, 2007 - Metro Times

Is Downtown Renewal A 'Fool's Errand'?

The Economist reports on how San Jose, CA and Las Vegas, NV, have tried -- and failed -- to revive their downtowns.

March 17, 2007 - The Economist

The Nation's Up-And-Coming Neighborhoods

A list of neighborhoods heading towards gentrification in the nation's 10 largest cities aims to give homebuyers and investors a chance to get in before prices skyrocket.

March 16, 2007 - Business Week

Services Are Lacking For The Rural Poor

Protests and violence have erupted in China's rural areas, where many of the country's poorest people struggle to find jobs. The government has pledged to improve spending to help provide for the rural poor and improve access to public services.

March 16, 2007 - The Economist

Governor Calls For Help In Rural Job Growth

The governor of North Carolina has called on a state grant program to dedicate more funding to encourage job growth in rural areas.

March 15, 2007 - The Raleigh News & Observer

Training Asia's Future Urban Planners And Leaders

The Asian Development Bank has partnered with the Singapore government on a new educational initiative to help improve conditions for poorer residents of the region's cities.

March 14, 2007 - People's Daily Online

A Unified Northeast Corridor

Northeastern states need to collaborate on regional initiatives to compete globally.

March 12, 2007 - The Houston Chronicle

UNOP Plan Works For New Orleans

Responding to recent criticism, Robert B. Olshansky and Lewis D. Hopkins, professors of urban and regional planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, argue that the United New Orleans Plan gets a lot more things right than wrong.

March 12, 2007 - New Orleans Times-Picayune

Portlanders Speak Out On Planning Vision

In Portland, Oregon, results of a survey about the mayor's long-term planning vision reveal that many in the city feel development is pricing out the poor, and that policies cater more to encouraging economic development than to resident's interests.

March 12, 2007 - The Portland Tribune

Wal-Mart Withdraws Supercenter Plans

Wal-Mart has dropped plans to build a "supercenter" store in the East Bay city of Livermore, which has joined many other Northern California cities that have used local powers to prevent the retailer from moving in.

March 9, 2007 - The Contra Costa Times

A Plan For Helping Second-Tier Cities Prosper

Commentator Neal Peirce argues that the nation's second-tier cities can indeed grow and prosper in partnership with leading metro areas, if we only give them a chance.

March 8, 2007 - The Houston Chronicle

The World's Most Connected Cities

Daily Wireless offers a review of the most connected cities in the World. Only two (or five, depending on how you count) are in the US. Several cities might surprise you.

March 8, 2007 - Daily Wireless

Internet Age Boom Town Copes With Growing Pains

Cheap hydroelectric power helped Quincy, Washington -- population 5,300 -- hit the high-tech economy jackpot. But with land prices skyrocketing and local services taxed, might the boom be too much of a good thing?

March 8, 2007 - The Wall Street Journal

Rural Women Migrate To Revive Cities

A wave of women has moved into urban Bolivia, and brought with them the ambition to make their home amid the slum conditions and crumbling infrastructure.

March 7, 2007 - The Washington Post

Watchdog Group Rips New Orleans Plan

The independent Bureau of Governmental Research finds the Unified New Orleans Plan "fails to deliver a cohesive, workable road map for recovery."

March 7, 2007 - New Orleans Times Picayune

Economic and Ethnic Diversity in Portland Maine's Gateway Neighborhood

The Bayside neighborhood's economic, cultural and racial diversity is reflected in housing types, restaurants, scrap yards and grocery stores.

March 5, 2007 - The New York Times

Federal Dollars Assisting Displaced Workers Go Largely Unused

Though it is designed to cushion the blow for workers laid off because of foreign competition, the Trade Act Adjustment program is widely criticized for being difficult to access and unrealistic for many adults with extremely limited incomes.

March 4, 2007 - The Wall Street Journal

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.