Detroit

Seattle as the 'Next Detroit'
As the automotive industry of Detroit once inherited the wealth and assets of Pittsburgh's steel industry, one writer argues Seattle has now inherited the wealth and assets of the Silicon Valley.
Coming Soon to Detroit: An Urban Livestock Ordinance
Planners and citizens in Detroit are wrapping up a year's worth of research and community engagement before drafting an urban livestock ordinance.
Report: Detroit's Property Tax System in Need of Major Overhaul
Detroit's comeback has been well documented, as has its efforts to remove blight and demolish vacant properties. A new report sheds light on another of the city's deepest challenges: how to reform property taxes to achieve fiscal certainty.

Detroit Receives Funding for Another Demolition Push
A recent influx of money to Detroit for demolitions of abandoned properties brings the city's total to $107 million. That money has established Detroit as the country's proving ground for the idea that demolitions stabilize struggling neighborhoods.

The Motown Sound Came From Single-Family Homes
Would the Motor City have produced Motown without pianos in every living room?
New Releases: A Field Guide for Transforming Vacant Lots
Detroit Future City has released a guidebook for the process of redeveloping, renovating, and remediating neighborhoods full of vacant and blighted properties.
Ambitious Complete Streets Plan Proposed for Woodward Ave Between Detroit and Pontiac
The Woodward Avenue Action Association recently approved a plan for a complete streets makeover that would connect to the forthcoming M-1 streetcar and cross several city boundaries.

Innovation in Detroit Turns to the Worm
Faced with an estimated 24 square miles of vacant land, Detroit is turning its empty lots into test beds of urban innovation.

More Bicycle Infrastructure Equals More Riders
Analysis of Census data shows that, while still small in number, more Americans are taking to two-wheels as part of their daily commute.

Once in the Great City of Detroit
A new book by Washington Post associate editor David Maraniss examines the glory years of Detroit.

White Population Shifting Decades-Long Trends in Cities
The Census has confirmed what many trend stories and liberals have been saying for a while now—white people are moving back to cities.

Street Artist Shepard Fairey Tackles Detroit
After billionaire landlord Dan Gilbert commissioned a mural, less-legal works in Fairey's style began showing up around the city. Detroit's case against the artist brings gentrification's ironies into focus.
Changes to Detroit's Foreclosure Auctions Disempower Homeowners and Tenants
A new law makes it impossible for property owners delinquent on their property taxes to bid in a foreclosure auction to keep their homes. Larger, commercial interests are benefitting from the change.
Surveying the Adaptive Reuse of Detroit
Although it's a favorite tool of urbanists all over the country—Detroit has taken to adaptive reuse with singular aplomb.
Details of Detroit's New Parking System
Parts of Detroit recently upgraded to parking kiosks that enable technologically-enhanced parking enforcement. A few weeks after enforcement began, the Detroit Free Press offers tips for navigating the new system.

Dan Gilbert's Detroit Buying Spree Continues
The Quicken Loans founder and real estate mogul now controls 78 downtown properties. His investment choices can set the tone for life in what used to be an abandoned city center.
MAP-21 Regulations—From 2012—Delay Detroit Streetcar Opening
Detroit's M-1 Rail, under construction since 2014, has bumped back its project delivery date. Blame for the delay is assigned to weather, streetcar delivery delays, and the roll out of a federal transportation law from 2012.
One Bridge on the Way, Another Still Possible on U.S.-Canada Border
With a request for qualifications for a new bridge, connecting Detroit with Windsor, Canada, and a proposal for another bridge on the table, it'a bridge building time on the U.S.-Canadian border.

A Better Solution to Reusing Abandoned Property: Evidence from Flint and Detroit
Margaret Dewar of the University of Michigan blogs about her new article in Journal of Planning Education and Research, which investigates reuse of abandoned property in Detroit and Flint. You can download the article free until August 31, 2015.

All-White Neighborhoods Are Nearly Extinct; All-Black Neighborhoods Persist
The good news is that middle-class suburbs are becoming increasingly integrated. However, a closer look at the migration patterns of whites and minorities reveals a more complex picture, rife with racism.
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.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research