With ground floor rents in Manhattan skyrocketing, many independent merchants are moving their storefronts to once vacant second stories.
"Certain types of shopkeepers, especially shoe repairers and dry cleaners, are imperiled. 'They're being driven out of the city,' said Aaron Gavios, executive vice president and managing partner of Square Foot Realty, a Manhattan firm that specializes in small clients. 'They can't spend more than $4,000 or $5,000 a month, and rents like that are quickly evaporating.'
Still, that doesn't necessarily portend a streetscape walled in by chain stores or big boxes. Enterprising small storeowners have increasingly headed upstairs, colonizing once empty second- and third-story spaces.
These new or at least newly rediscovered locations lack visibility and ease of access. But they rent for half the cost of a ground floor, and that can make a decisive difference. You can still encounter the improbable shop and the ardent storekeeper. To do it, however, you have to look upward."
FULL STORY: Second-Story Story

San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.

Has President Trump Met His Match?
Doug Ford, the no-nonsense premier of Canada's most populous province, Ontario, is taking on Trump where it hurts — making American energy more expensive.

Study: London ULEZ Rapidly Cleaning up Air Pollution
Expanding the city’s ultra low-emission zone has resulted in dramatic drops in particle emissions in inner and outer London.

Disconnecting Communities: Measuring the Social Impacts of Freeways
Research from 50 major U.S. cities shows social connections are weakest in neighborhoods where highways are present.

San Jose Mayor Takes Dual Approach to Unsheltered Homeless Population
In a commentary published in The Mercury News, Mayor Matt Mahan describes a shelter and law enforcement approach to ending targeted homeless encampments within Northern California's largest city.

Atlanta Changes Beltline Rail Plan
City officials say they are committed to building rail connections, but are nixing a prior plan to extend the streetcar network.
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.
Resource Assistance for Rural Environments
City of Edmonds
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research