Amid all of the emotional and heartfelt tributes this week upon the death of legendary urbanist Jane Jacobs comes a critical view by Nicholai Ouroussoff in today's New York Times.  It is titled, "Outgrowing Jane Jacobs."  Ouroussoff contends that the pendulum has swung so dangerously in favor of her ideas that… more

LA Mayor Villaraigosa has made it a top priority.  And visitors to big cities all over the U.S. have noticed the increase.

People on the street -- whether homeless or just begging for a living -- seem to have multiplied, and urban leaders are trying to figure out the right response.

Today's NY Times… more

Daniel Chenin is still a student at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, but his design for the PANEL house seems just right for cities. 

"The only thing we can predict," he writes, "is change."  It is that primary certainty in life that the homebuilding industry has ignored.   So… more

Nevada now offers up to a 10-year, 50 percent property tax cut on private developments that achieve a LEED silver rating or higher.  Nevada becomes the secon state to pass such legislation.  The law also requires all state-funded projects to meet basic LEED requirements.

LEED is the U.S. Green Building Council's method… more

More from the PriceWaterhouseCoopers report on "Cities of the Future"....

The more important and fastest growing markets and their driving forces are these:

Market                                                           Driving Force

Markets of adventure                               The experience society
Market of fellowship                                 The tiredness of individualism
Market for care                                           The ageing population
Who am I market                                       The identity… more

Based on its conversations with urban leaders in Europe and Asia, PWC found them agreeing on these challenges:

• Intellectual and social capital - Urban leaders need to become facilitators of change and provide leadership.
• Democratic capital - Cities need to encourage dialogue with citizens and find new forums for collaboration.
• Cultural… more

According to a new report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers on "Cities of the Future," a number of megatrends are affecting the strategic agenda in cities.  They are:

• Globalization/Glocalization
• Individualism
• Merging
• Acceleration
• High Tech
• High Touch
• Changing Demographics
• Urbanization
• Migration

These megatrends are creating challenges for cities:

• Ageing population causing increased financial burdens on health and welfare systems
• Economic restructuring, increased unemployment and… more

SphereTrending.com reports that McMansions are old news, while the small house movement is the new news.  A function of rising home prices?  Perhaps.

Other trends from the firm that may affect life in cities:

New News                                                  Old News

Home Entertainment                               Public Entertainment
Storytelling Product                                Storytelling Technology
Mass Excitement                                       Mass Boredom
Eco-fashionistas                                        Earth… more

Today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution called for a new attitude by business and environmentalists on water.  The editorial comes on the heels of  a 13-page letter sent last week to Georgia's director of the Environmental Protection Division by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, along with an alliance of real estate agents,… more

Niagra Frontier Transportation Authority reports that ridership on Buffalo, New York's Metro Bus and Metro Rail was up 290,966 during the first three months of the year.  The five percent jump is the largest increase anyone can recall, according to NFTA's spokesman. 

The increase is coming primarily by those choosing… more

Easter Sunday in one Encino cul-de-sac was interrupted by the arrival of a film crew ready to start shooting on one of the 3,900 adult films that will be shot in Los Angeles this year. 

Turns out, one of the neighbors had rented his home out for the filming of  "The… more

Today's Boston Globe outlines a new battle going on at Faneuil Hall pitting the national chain stores and restaurants against local merchants.

General Growth, the company that bought the Rouse Company a few years ago, continues to raise rents and lower its marketing budget as it depends… more

In an effort to bring more qualified math, science and special education teachers to New York City's toughest schools, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration has developed one of the most aggressive housing subsidy programs for teachers in the nation, according to today's New York Times.  Teachers with at least two years… more

A rash of stories have appeared lately on our changing schedules for sleeping and working.  The number of  "off-hours" workers -- those who work during the evening, weekend and overnight -- is expected to increase, thanks to a changing economy (more services, more globalization) and advances in technology.  And that… more

People are moving to cities far more rapidly than most of us realize, according to Stewart Brand of the Global Business Network.  And that is good news for stabilizing world population.  But now Brand says he worries about the disruptions of depopulation.

The effect of moving to urban areas, according to "The… more

As part of its vision for 2015, Manchester, England, has developed six indicators of success:

• The growth in population
• The gross value added (the value of Manchester's economy)
• The median incomes (the wealth of the Manchester residents)
• Life expectancy (the health of Manchester residents)
• The percentage of residents who feel that their area is… more

Large-scale developers (mostly suburban) have begun using sophisticated marketing techniques to design and market  neighborhoods that appeal to highly-segmented buyers, according to an article in today's Washington Post.  The practice seems to be accelerating a trend first noted by Austin American Statesman reporter Bill Bishop, who identified the self-segregation of … more

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlights a growing trend in cities: using technology to help motorists find and reserve parking in advance using computers and cell phones.

A number of services - from private companies to public transit systems - are using new technology to make it… more

Supermarkets are slowly returning to the inner city as governments remove roadblocks to building them, according to an article in this month's Governing  magazine.  That's the good news.   The bad news is that "for every inner city that is gaining supermarkets, another seems to be losing them."   Why?   Retailers will… more

Relaxing centralization and giving principals a freer hand are now the focus for New York schools chancellor Joel Klein. According to The New York Times, Klein's new team is "evaluating everything from how textbooks and paper are bought to how teacher training programs are chosen to how students, teachers and… more

With the start of major construction on Chicago's Dan Ryan Expressway, ridership on the South Shore commuter train was 24 percent above normal on Monday, the first workday, and 31 percent above normal Tuesday. South Shore marketing director John Parsons says even off-peak trains have been overcrowded. Some drivers tried… more