A new law in New York amends the not-for-profit corporation law and the public authorities law, to allow for the creation and administration of up to ten land banks, for the conversion of vacant, abandoned or tax-delinquent properties into productive use. Once a foreclosing government unit (FGU) establishes a land bank, it is can design, [...]
In Praise of Footprints and Ephemera
Photo taken in 2005 of the few pieces allowed to be left each day on the fence by Ground Zero Credit: ben matthews :::Since the attacks of September 11th a decade ago, numerous memorials have tried to make sense of and to solemnly remember that dayR…
Pushing Gently: A Look at San Francisco’s Tenderloin National Forest
Credit: Johanna HoffmanIt’s late afternoon in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood –- one of America’s densest urban areas—and a homeless man is sitting in the shade of a redwood tree. Out on the sidewalk, just one hun…
Blast from the Past: Environmental and Social Benefits of Improved Street Lighting
Credit: by Seattle Municipal Archives
Street lighting is a vital element in creating navigable, safe and successful cities (although its role in reducing crime is still open to debate). However, with 20% of the world’s energy consumed by street…
Look Around, Then Look Ahead
Illustration by Eleanor GroschIn summer 2006, shortly after graduating from college, I went to New Orleans as an AmeriCorps volunteer and served in a small neighborhood called Tulane/Gravier, or Lower Mid-City. The neighborhood was adjacent to post-WW…
Envisioning the Open City
Photo by Lindsay MacDonaldIn November 2010 Next American City hosted Open Cities: New Media’s Role in Shaping Urban Policy, an annual two-day conference funded by the Rockefeller Foundation that unites new media and urban policy’s top thin…
The City’s Best Tech Tools
GOVERNANCE
“Open Gov” isn’t just a buzzword. These tools make government more efficient and facilitate interaction between officials and citizens, showing that technology is an effective weapon against red tape.
(From Is…
Building the World’s Greenest Data Center
Credit: Steel Orca“It’s like a ghost town out here,” Lia Crocker says as we ride in her white sedan through the Keystone Industrial Port Complex. A sprawling former U.S. Steel site 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia, the KIPC is home…
The Bridge reverses the paradigm of homeless shelters in America
Credit: Overland Partners ArchitectsThe Bridge has been open for 3 years now. What impact has it had on Dallas-area homelessness?
By transitioning people experiencing homelessness from streets or institutions into shelter and housing, The Bridge Homel…
The Pitch: A One-Stop Mobile Information Shop for Transit Services
Credit: by kamshotsRecently, Latitude released the results of its Tech for Transit: Designing a Future System open innovation study (published in collaboration with Next American City). The study, which asked regular drivers in Boston and San Francisc…
Reimagining Mexico City
Around mid-century, William S. Burroughs said that Mexico City was “sinister and gloomy and chaotic, with the special chaos of a dream.” The city has grown more than five-fold since Burroughs uttered this caricature, incubating a surreal ae…
Gary Comer Youth Center creates safe and constructive environment for its 1,000+ members
Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of interviews by Mary Jones with the 2011 winners of the Rudy Bruner Award. Gary Comer Youth Center in Chicago, Illinois was one of four Silver Medalists. For more information on the…
Adventures in Urban Food Foraging
Credit: © Dallas LillichJuly 9th through 16th marked the first ever “Eat Local First Week” in Washington, DC – a week dedicated to celebrating and showcasing the array of local food in the Washington area. Think Local First, an …
Blast from the Past: Introvert Urbanism in Bangkok
Credit: by *** Harold R ***
Introduced to Thailand in the eighties, multi-story shopping complexes have for better or worse become a sanctuary our lives revolve around. That Bangkok is home to a staggering number of shopping malls is hardly news, but…
Why Carmageddon (and the Wolfpack Victory) Matters
Credit: By waltarrrrrEditor’s note: This piece originally appeared on streetsblog.net on July 18, 2011
Over the weekend, a team of bicyclists beat an airplane from Burbank to Long Beach, California.
The closely watched, 40-mile race was …
