Small Businesses
How to Repurpose Vacant Storefronts
Loosening restrictions on clean light manufacturing can revive dormant storefronts and revitalize communities.
The Impact of Local Entrepreneurship on Neighborhood Revitalization
Explore how local entrepreneurship boosts neighborhood revitalization, driving economic growth, creating jobs, and enhancing community bonds. Learn about the supportive role urban planners play in fostering sustainable business ecosystems.
Op-Ed: How ‘Useful’ Businesses Boost Walkability
When mixed-use development isn’t enough to create vibrant, walkable neighborhoods.
Phoenix Grant Program Supports Small Businesses During Light Rail Work
Businesses impacted by light rail construction can still apply for grants to make up for lost revenue.
Why Big Box Stores Are Abandoning Their Urban Experiment
And why that may not be such a bad thing.
Pop-Up Shops are Reviving Dormant Downtowns
The future of downtown retail is uncertain. In the meantime, pop-ups fill the gaps and provide small businesses with unique opportunities to showcase their wares.
Car-Free Montreal Street Hailed as Success
A summer pedestrianization project is widely popular with residents and local businesses.
Bike Lanes Are Good for Business. Why Don’t Business Owners Believe It?
Proposed bike lanes often come up against opposition from local merchants who believe losing street parking will hurt their business, but research repeatedly shows the opposite effect.
Detroit To Build New Parking for Small Businesses
The city will invest $9 million in an initiative to build customer parking on city-owned lots to boost economic development.
Bay Area Pop-Ups Aim To Activate Vacant Storefronts
As commercial storefronts experience high vacancy rates, cities like Oakland and San Francisco are making concerted efforts to support temporary tenants, public art installations, and small entrepreneurs that can revitalize abandoned spaces.
How To Slow the Wave of Commercial Vacancies
Empty storefronts depress property values and suppress small business growth. What can cities do to fill these vacancies?
6 Surprising Ways Communities Can Grow Their Businesses Amidst the Labor Shortage
While the labor shortage has affected businesses across the country, many communities have started taking steps to support area businesses and help them thrive.
It's Good to Be a Small Business in These 6 U.S. Cities
Here are six U.S. cities where small companies are thriving.
An Overlooked Economic Powerhouse for Small Cities
Attracting a major employer or a tech company is not the only economic development strategy that deserves attention and investment.
How Planners Can Help the Dallas Food Scene Flourish
Dallas is amidst a process for electing a new City Council, and one local writer sees the transition as an opportunity to present an ambitious agenda for also overhauling the city's local dining scene.
Home-Based Businesses Could Save the Post-Pandemic Economy
Seattle's city council considers reducing 'arbitrary' and 'exclusionary' limits on home-based businesses.
California's 'Split Roll' Property Tax Reform, Explained
California voters will consider a landmark reform of its infamous property tax system this November. Prop. 15 would remove property tax caps on commercial properties established by Prop. 13 in 1978.
Let's Interrupt History: Racial Equity in a Time of Crisis
Data on the pandemic shows once again the dramatic consequences of racial inequalities. Community Development Financial Institutions must focus on ensuring equity for Black-owned businesses.
Op-Ed: SoHo and NoHo Need a Zoning Overhaul
Two SoHo residents argue that outdated zoning holds the Manhattan neighborhoods back, requiring special permits or variances for many current residential and commercial uses.
Oakland Slow in Keeping Its Promise to Help Small Businesses Deal With Transit Changes
Oakland created a fund of $4 million dollars to aid small businesses affected by the construction of a new BRT line on International Blvd. So far, none of that money has been spent, though some of the funding was supposed to be spent by 2017.
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
