With suburban sprawl a long-standing issue in Texas, one San Antonio-based architecture firm is aiming to strengthen and revitalize its city's downtown core.
San Antonio sprawl
In this booming Sunbelt city, downtown revitalization is a particularly challenging goal. While the United States as a whole has experienced something of an urban renaissance in recent years — between 2010 and 2014, downtown populations grew faster than those of the surrounding districts in most American cities — San Antonio has remained overwhelmingly suburban. Within the last decade, more new housing has been built in the sprawl zone than within the city limits, and the number of jobs in the downtown core has actually fallen. Most of the new residential and commercial development continues to take place on the outskirts of the metropolitan area, pushing the boundaries ever outward.
FULL STORY: Design activism, Texas-style
Resilience Planning for Suburban Growth
Whether or not the suburban shift accelerated by the pandemic continues, policymakers can implement climate resilience strategies and guide sustainable growth in both cities and exurbs.
COVID-19 and Big, Dense Cities That Aren't New York
As in metropolitan New York, big, dense cities don't always suffer from coronavirus to a greater extent than their car-oriented suburbs.
Study: There's a Lot of Vacant Land in Texas Cities
All that empty acreage means that these big, rapidly developing cities don’t really have to sprawl.
Study: Maui’s Plan to Convert Vacation Rentals to Long-Term Housing Could Cause Nearly $1 Billion Economic Loss
The plan would reduce visitor accommodation by 25,% resulting in 1,900 jobs lost.
Placekeeping: Setting a New Precedent for City Planners
How a preservation-based approach to redevelopment and urban design can prevent displacement and honor legacy communities.
Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.
Washington State Plans Ambitious ‘Cycle Highway’ Network
The state is directing funding to close gaps in its existing bike network and make long-distance trips more accessible.
Homeowners Blame PG&E for Delays in ADU Permits
The utility says it has dramatically reduced its backlog, but applicants say they still face months-long delays for approvals for new electrical work.
Rethinking Wildfire Defense: How a Landscape Approach Can Protect Neighborhoods
Post-fire analysis of the Eaton Fire reveals that a landscape approach — including fire-resistant vegetation, home hardening, and strategic planning — can help reduce wildfire risk, challenging assumptions that trees and plants are primary fire hazards.
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.
Borough of Carlisle
Caltrans
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland