When the city of Hanston, Kansas had to shut down the local middle/high school, residents refused to let the school sit vacant; instead, the building now houses a town-owned business incubator called Elk Plaza. Uses o...

Officials who want to improve Washington D.C.'s unreliable metro system look to the Chicago Transportation Authority to find examples of success in rebuilding a subway system. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel prioritized up...

While the entire nation struggles to combat blight and rundown housing, the city of Mobile, Alabama put together a task force and managed to slow the spread of blight in the town and even change the state constitution...

A development firm in Bridgeport, CT relies on public-private partnerships to fund renewal of blighted sites into upgraded buildings, including a brand new charter school. With a mix of government and low-income housi...

After years of developmental stagnancy, the city of Waterbury, Connecticut puts into action a way for developers to renew buildings without having to take financial responsibility for previous owners' environmental wa...

Mulhouse, a small city in France, brushed off its negative reputation and used community networking, clever financing, and urban renewal as tools to become a bustling center once again. The town relied on many communi...

Mansfield, Ohio leaders look to cities across the country for inspiration from successes - and lessons from failures - to help them rebuild their downtown brand. From Austin, Texas, to Fargo, South Dakota, these succe...

When big box stores shutter, communities can suffer: vacant buildings deter investment and sites can encourage vandalism and other crimes. Because demolishing the stores can prove prohibitively expensive, three cities...

With the help of the nonprofit West End Economic Development Corporation (WEEDC), communities in Southwest Colorado use creative financing and collective action to rebuild their economies after the downfall of the coa...

Milwaukee Junction, a neighborhood in Detroit, focuses on urban renewal and business promotion as it seeks to become the next "up-and-coming" area in the city. Developers seek out abandoned lots and old auto manufactu...

San Diego residents may be seeing more placemaking projects, like murals or pedestrian plazas, because of a more streamlined permitting process. The city, notorious for making such projects difficult and expense to in...

A new community center and greenspace are reviving a West Atlanta neighborhood by providing a safe space for children to play. Developers have also received suggestions from community members to expand the greenspace ...

In Boyle Heights, a working class neighborhood of Los Angeles, members of the community have taken to the streets armed with clipboards and pens to document environmental hazards, zoning violations, and and other thin...