What's New

October 2003

Built Environment/Urban Design

Post Suburbia: Examining the New Metropolitan Form. Washington, D.C.: Fannie Mae Foundation, 2002.

A conference held November 21, 2002 in Baltimore, Maryland.

American suburbs are in flux. Some contain as much commerce as a good-sized city. Others maintain concentrated poverty on par with some of the nation's most distressed urban areas. For several decades, suburbs have no longer fit the description of "bedroom communities." However, the manner in which they are currently evolving is subject to much debate. This conference addressed the state of contemporary suburbia beginning with the premise that suburbs have moved so far beyond their traditional function as bedroom communities that they can now be better characterized by what urban historian Jon Teaford labels "Post Suburbia." The focus then shifted to what Post Suburbia means for public policy including such issues as growth management, sprawl, transportation and housing. Post-suburban Metro Politics (by Myron Orfield) were also covered. The conference concluded with a discussion of the larger social and cultural meaning of the new metropolitan form.

Economic and Public Policy

Altshuler, Alan, and David Luberoff. Mega-Projects: the Changing Politics of Urban Public Investment. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2003.

Altshuler and Luberoff analyze the unprecedented wave of large-scale (mega-) public investments that occurred in American cities during the 1950s and 1960s; the social upheavals they triggered, which derailed large numbers of projects during the late 1960s and early 1970s; and the political impulses that have shaped a new generation of urban mega-projects in the decades since. They also appraise the most important consequences of policy shifts over this half-century and draw out common themes from the rich variety of programmatic and project developments that they chronicle.

A positive review by Alan Ehrenhalt appears in Governing, May 2003.

Nivola, Pietro. Tense Commandments: Federal Prescriptions and City Problems. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2002.

During the past decade, dozens of large cities lost population as jobs and people kept moving to the suburbs. Despite widespread urban revitalization and renewal, one fact remains unmistakable: when choosing where to live and work, Americans prefer the suburbs to the cities. Many underlying causes of the urban predicament are familiar: disproportionate poverty, stiff city tax rates, and certain unsatisfactory municipal services (most notably, public schools). Less recognized is the distinct possibility that sometimes the regulatory policies of the federal government — the rules and rulings imposed by its judges, bureaucrats, and lawmakers—further disadvantage the cities, ultimately burdening their ability to attract residents and businesses. Reviewed in the Autumn 2003 issue of The Journal of the American Planning Association.

Economic Development

Gottlieb, Paul D. Older Central Counties in the New Economy. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Economic Development Administration, 2001.

Older central counties — like Cleveland's Cuyahoga — contain a substantial portion of the nation's population and productive resources. They actually contain more than their expected share of high-tech and advanced-services employment. How should these mature counties approach spatial planning in the New Economy?

Growth Management

Urban Planning Tools for Quality Growth: First Edition and 2002 Supplement. Salt Lake City: Envision Utah, [2002].

Envision Utah is a public/private community partnership dedicated to studying the effects of long-term growth in the Greater Wasatch Area of northern Utah. Sponsored by the Coalition for Utah's Future, Envision Utah and its partners — with extensive input from the public — have developed a publicly supported growth strategy that will preserve Utah's high quality of life, natural environment and economic vitality during the next 50 years.

Housing

Affordable Housing Strategies. Tucson, Ariz.: Tucson Community Services Department, 2000.

In 1996, the City of Tucson and the Metropolitan Housing Commission asked its partner agencies and the private sector to join in a commitment to increase the affordable housing stock in Tucson. Affordable Housing Strategies 1996-2000 developed strategies to further the goal of increasing and promoting affordable housing in our community. The city's goal was to build upon a base of over 8,400 households assisted by increasing the number of assisted households to 10,000 by the year 2000. The goal was achieved one year early and currently over 11,800 households have received assistance in securing safe, decent and affordable housing.

Governor's Center for Local Government Services. Reducing Land Use Barriers to Affordable Housing. Harrisburg, Penn.: Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, 2001. 4th ed.

This publication explores how to reduce or eliminate regulatory obstacles to help stem the rising tide of housing costs. Although overly restrictive land use ordinances are not the only factors that increase housing costs, many zoning provisions and subdivision ordinance requirements do add to the problem. Some of the regulatory barriers may be inadvertent and easy to rectify. Others may be more difficult because they contradict conventional wisdom and/or local tradition. Planning Series No. 10 is an instructive guide on what to look for and how to remove local planning and zoning obstacles to create affordable homes for Pennsylvania residents. There are many factors that contribute to high housing costs. Major studies indicate that restrictive zoning regulations and unreasonable subdivision and land development requirements can contribute to the cost of housing. Reining in of regulatory excesses may not directly create affordable housing, but it will work to reduce one component of increased housing costs.

Suchman, Diane R. Developing Successful Infill Housing. Washington, D.C.: Urban Land Institute, 2002.

This new book explains how to find and take advantage of opportunities and overcome obstacles. Each stage of the development process is covered, including assessing the market, financing, assembling land, planning, design, the regulatory process, addressing community concerns, and marketing. Twelve case studies describe the development of flourishing multifamily, mixed-use, townhouse, adaptive use, and manufactured home projects throughout the nation.

Municipal Planning

Marietta City Development Advisory Board. Marietta City Comprehensive Plan. Marietta, Ohio: Development Advisory Board, 2003.

Open Space

Voters Invest in Open Space: 2000 Referenda Results. Washington, D.C.: Land Trust Alliance, 2001.

Planning

Paddison, Ronan, ed. Handbook of Urban Studies. London: Sage, 2001.

Cities dominate how our economies are spatially structured and restructured, and how social life is experienced. Under conditions of accelerating globalization, cities are the principal intermediaries through which economic growth is sustained and have long been the primary loci through which political control is maintained. Taking a holistic viewpoint, the Handbook of Urban Studies provides a comprehensive appreciation of urban structure and change, and of the theories by which we understand the structure, development, and changing character of cities. Leading authors identify and analyze key issues, within the following sections: Identifying the City, The City as Environment, The City as People, The City as Economy, The City as Organized Polity, Power and Policy Discourses in Postmodern Cities, Cities in Transition.

Planning Administration

Arimes, George N. Manager's Planning Guide to Improving the Development Review Process. Chicago: American Planning Association, 2003.

This training program is designed for managers who are faced with updating or redesigning agency programs. Learn the latest techniques for assessing your programs. Examine systems that improve customer service, productivity, and program integration. In the audio portion, a consultant, planners, and managers use case studies to show how and why to implement agency change. Includes loose-leaf notebook and CD-ROM.

Planning and Zoning Legislation

Ontario (Cal.) Comprehensive Development Code, as Amended April 4, 2001. Ontario, Cal.: Ontario Planning Commission, 2001.

Public Health and Planning

Ayre, Darvin, Gruffie Clough, and Tyler Norris. Trendbenders: Building Healthy and Vital Communities. Chicago: Health Research and Education Trust, 2002.

This volume synthesizes theory and research, provides compelling conceptual frameworks, and masterfully integrates case studies and anecdotes for improving our communities. The principles and techniques outlined in this book offer hope for citizens who are concerned about the future direction of their community and the root causes of negative social trends. The book outlines strategies for community change initiatives designed to produce long-term systemic changes benefiting all members of the community.

Redevelopment

Brownfields Redevelopment: A Guidebook for Local Governments and Communities. Washington, D.C.: International City/County Management Association, 2001.

Since 1996, ICMA has worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under a cooperative agreement to research and report on the best practices of managing a brownfields program at the local level, as well as on innovative ways to restore sites to a state of productive use. As the association for professional local government management, ICMA is well positioned to research methods of brownfields management or, more accurately, brownfields coordination at the local level. With the increasing awareness of brownfields issues at all levels of government, ICMA has been compiling its research for the past three years into this second edition of its brownfields guidebook, Brownfields Redevelopment: A Guidebook for Local Governments and Communities — Second Edition. As brownfields redevelopment practices evolve, ICMA's research will keep pace with the challenges related to management and coordination of successful brownfields programs at all community levels.

Regional Planning

Henton, Doug, et al. Empowering Regions: Strategies and Tools for Community Decision Making. Palo Alto, Cal.: Alliance for Regional Stewardship, 2001.

Think of this monograph as a "user's guide" to tools for community decision making. In the final analysis, both an effective process and useful tools are essential for civic engagement to work. It is important to understand not only their potential to share information and make more informed decisions, but also their power to transform the way we govern.

Streets

Carter & Burgess, Inc. Old Walkertown Road Widening Feasibility Study. Winston-Salem, N.C.: The City, 2003.

Transportation

Forkenbrock, David D., and Glen E. Weisbrod. Guidebook for Assessing the Social and Economic Effects of Transportation Projects. Washington, D.C.: Transportation Research Board, 2001.

This report presents guidance for practitioners in assessing the social and economic implications of transportation projects for their surrounding communities. Presented in guidebook format, the report identifies current best methods, tools, and techniques, based on an extensive literature review and comprehensive survey of state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations. Additional resources are contained in the appendixes, including a discussion of geographic information system applications for social and economic impact analysis, tips on designing effective survey questionnaires, an overview of the travel demand modeling process, and a brief review of relevant legislation that provides the legal basis for impact assessment requirements. The guidebook should be particularly valuable to transportation planners in conducting assessments and producing results that are easily understood by residents, stakeholders, and decision makers. The guidebook will help planners not only to comply with applicable laws, executive orders, and regulations, but also to employ best practices for good participatory planning.

Urban Sociology

Keller, Suzanne. Community: Pursuing the Dream, Living the Reality. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2003.

This book combines penetrating analysis of classic ideas about community with a remarkable and unprecedented 30-year case study of one of the first "planned unit developments" in America and the first in New Jersey. Twin Rivers, this pioneering venture, featured townhouses and shared spaces for children's play and adult work and play in a society that stresses individual over collective goals and private over public concerns.

"Suzanne Keller's thoughtful insights and analysis are especially valuable in these rapidly changing times of both great promise and great danger, as we strive to improve our own communities and develop a genuine world community at peace and with opportunity for all. This fascinating and well-written book is a timely contribution to our understanding of what it takes to create a successful community, and it deserves to be widely read." —Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Utilities

Valle-Riestra, Paul. Telecommunications: The Governmental Role in Managing the Connected Community. Point Arena, Cal.: Solano Press, 2002.

A detailed summary and analysis of federal and state laws governing the location and regulation of physical facilities including cable, traditional telephone systems, wireless systems (cellular, paging, and Internet), satellite dishes, and antennas. With practice tips, photographs, a glossary, table of authorities, and an index.