New Mexico
Study: New Mexico MainStreet Achieves Dramatic Success
A new study shows evidence of dramatic positive impacts for the New Mexico MainStreet program, a state program working in coordination with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Amtrak Southwest Chief Service Rests with N.M. Governor
Continued service to many cities in New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas may rest with N.M. Gov. Susana Martinez who has indicated she is unwilling to share in the maintenance costs required by the federal government for a stretch of rail owned by BNSF.
A Sunbaked New Mexico Hits its Boiling Point
Harsh climate and persistent drought have accelerated New Mexico's desertification over three years of record-breaking heat. With 87% of the Western U.S. experiencing a drought, is New Mexico the canary in the coal mine for an increasingly arid area?
Water Crisis: Challenges Ahead in New Mexico
While much of America’s southwest and inter-mountain west battles blazing forest fires, Magdalena, NM faces a less spectacular but equally fearsome crisis: a municipal system no longer capable of delivering water to the village's 938 residents.
Commuter Rail Lines Multiply, But Where Are the Riders?
Despite a flurry of new commuter rail lines in operation, ridership increased a mere .5% during a record year for transit. Worse yet, some of the newer lines saw the greatest decreases. The answer: increase service to attract riders.
Developers Recognize Advantages of Market-Responsive Form-Based Codes
Form-based codes voluntarily adopted by developers show how this kind of land-use regulation can offer high market adaptability while assuring a better public realm.
Slow Growth of Albuquerque's Answer to Sprawl Raises Questions
Stan Alcorn checks up on the status of Mesa del Sol, a 12,900-acre public-private project that broke ground outside of Albuquerque in 2006, and was planned to be the largest New Urbanist development in the Southwest.
Exploring the Impact of Public Interest Design
A new series of documentary films seeks to explore the value and impact of public interest projects designed using the SEED process, which is based on a belief that design can be a catalyst for positive change within the public at large.
New R&D City Missing One Key Ingredient: People
In New Mexico, construction will begin this summer on a fully functioning 15-square mile new town, designed "to test everything about the future of smart cities, from autonomous cars to new wireless networks," reports Emily Badger.
California's 'Other' HSR Line Receives Key Go-Ahead
The privately funded, 190-mile grade-separated high-speed line linking Victorville, San Bernardino County and Las Vegas received clearance from the federal Surface Transportation Board provided DesertXpress implement mitigation measures..
Fake City in Middle of Nowhere to Be Used as Simulator
A tech firm is building a simulated city across 20 miles of New Mexico desert as testing grounds for new green technologies and renewable energy.
Repurposed Railyard Becomes Award-Winning Park
The City Parks blog looks at Santa Fe Railyard Park and Plaza, one of the winners of this year's Rudy Bruner Awards for Urban Excellence.
Mobile Markets Bring Groceries to Food Deserts
Mogro is a new for-profit company in New Mexico that is targeting neighborhoods with little access to healthy food with temperature-controlled grocery trucks.
State Subsidies Enable the Southwest's Largest New Urbanist Development
It's at Albuquerque's edge, it's the size of Manhattan, and it's happening, despite drought, recession and tightening state budgets. An annotation of Mesa del Sol's master plan explains how and why.
Physicist Tackles Urban Theory
Physicist Geoffrey West of the Santa Fe Institute applied his talents to unraveling urban issues like population growth in a similar vein that he did earlier with biology. He found answers that explain how all cities work if enough data is supplied.
Volcano-Oriented Development
The Albuquerque City Council and staff are drafting plans for Volcano Heights, Volcano Cliffs and Volcano Trails, three sites bordering Petroglyph National Monument. A simmering debate over open space conservation seems cooled by public process.
Small-Town Environmental Justice
This piece from Next American City looks at pollution in small town New Mexico and how court rulings have made it hard for a local organization -- and those in other communities -- to fight environmental battles.
On the Mesa, Off the Grid
A mesa in New Mexico is home to nearly 400 people, which makes up one of the largest communities of people in the U.S. living almost completely off the grid.
A City Burns its Troubles Away
Every year, residents in Santa Fe, New Mexico send a huge human effigy into flames. Burning with it are physical representations of the bad memories and experiences of the past year.
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
