Legacy Cities

Cleveland is a thought leader in bulldozing houses, according to a recent op-ed on Cleveland.com, but it's time to imagine a new paradigm.

September 14, 2016 - Cleveland.com

In May, the documentary film "Cleveland: Confronting Decline in an American City" was made available in full on YouTube.

June 4, 2016 - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Erie, Pennsylvania and Canton, Ohio have faced the challenges of shrinking populations and fewer job prospects, but new comprehensive plans in each city may provide a pathway to resurgence

May 6, 2016 - The Canton Repository

Chloe E. Taft explores the transition of Bethlehem, Pa., from Rust Belt company town to gambling mecca.

April 7, 2016 - Josh Stephens

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

September 28, 2015 - Detroit Free Press

Author Catherine Tumbler writes on how this Rust Belt city on Lake Erie is attempting to capitalize on its past, reverse its mistakes, and build a greener economy.

March 27, 2015 - The Baffler

Journalist's Resource provides a one-stop shop for research on the subject of policies to regenerate urban areas once in decline.

February 4, 2015 - Journalist's Resource

Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert has an urbanist streak. And only people with his kind of money can singlehandedly buy out big chunks of downtown Detroit. But will his approach to neighborhood-making actually benefit the city as a whole?

October 17, 2014 - Grist

Belt Magazine is publishing the second edition of its "Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology" next month. The edition's new introduction sums up will the complicated issue of Cleveland's renaissance.

August 26, 2014 - Belt Magazine

Ben Schulman and Xiaoran Li lead an interesting thought experiment about the populations of cities around the country. That is, what would happen to the population of American cities if all their sizes were standardized?

August 12, 2014 - Belt Magazine

Joel Kotkin picks up on the findings of a study released in March from Cleveland State University about the city's net increase in young, well-educated population and recommends a regional approach to ensuring that the growth sticks.

June 6, 2014 - Forbes

Although Milwaukee had been insulated from population loss compared to many other legacy cities, the Great Recession has required the city to launch an $11.6 million blight reduction program.

April 25, 2014 - Next City

The populations of at least a dozen major cities declined by more than ten percent between 2000 and 2010, including Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Detroit. How best to regenerate those “legacy cities” is a matter of no small amount of debate.

February 22, 2014 - Cato @ Liberty

A new report from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy examines American cities suffering significant population losses, and concludes that investing in existing assets such as historic areas and transit systems offers the best path to prosperity.

June 25, 2013 - At Lincoln House

David Morley, AICP, asks if growth is a necessary prerequisite for long-term community health and prosperity, and whether it might be possible to rethink "the dominant planning paradigm in the United States."

March 21, 2012 - APA Sustaining Places

Richey Piiparinen examines the two, often antagonistic, worlds that he straddles as a mid-30′s native Rust Belt romantic, and finds fellowship with those in other legacy cities.

March 12, 2012 - Rust Wire