Neighborhoods
Explore the unique character and charm of our city's diverse neighborhoods.
How Local Zoning Laws Impact Neighborhood Character: An Explainer
Have you ever wondered why some neighborhoods feel bustling and dense while others are quiet and sprawling? Understanding how local zoning laws impact neighborhood character and development is the first step for residents who want a say in their community's future.
What Is Gentrification? A Guide to Its Causes, Effects, and Solutions in Urban Areas
Gentrification is a complex process of neighborhood change, bringing both new investment and significant challenges for long-term residents. This guide explores its causes, effects, and potential solutions in urban areas.
How to Choose the Best Neighborhood for Your Lifestyle: A Buyer's Guide
Choosing the right neighborhood is a crucial decision that shapes your daily life and long-term happiness. This guide helps you define your priorities and navigate key factors like commute, schools, amenities, and safety to find your perfect community.
Downtown's Future: Charm vs. Development's Contentious Path
In Chico, California, a city council meeting on a downtown revitalization project drew around 200 people.
Walkable Neighborhoods for a Car-Free Lifestyle
Even as rents dipped by 2.
Portland, Maine: Best Walkable City in the US for Exploring on Foot
Portland, Maine, a city often overlooked in national travel discussions, was recently named the best city in the U.
Top Family Neighborhoods for School Safety and Parks
Post-pandemic, San Francisco families are increasingly abandoning the city's traditional urban core.
5 Unique Parks for Recreation and Escape
Pennsylvania is opening its 125th state park, its first subterranean one.
A Guide to Hidden Gem Parks for Relaxation and Recreation in U.S. Cities
Explore a guide to hidden gem parks across U.S. cities, offering diverse options for relaxation and recreation. Whether you seek vast natural landscapes or quiet urban gardens, find your perfect escape.
Protecting city neighborhoods from rapid development is a battle
Fisk University, a historic institution, plans a 100,000 square foot data center as part of a $900 million campus overhaul, sparking immediate alarm among its North Nashville neighbors.
Historic neighborhoods are cheaper and denser than new urban development.
In San Diego, historic districts are nearly twice as dense as other residential neighborhoods, challenging the conventional wisdom that new construction is the sole path to urban density.
Neighborhood transit upgrades are lagging, jeopardizing sustainable city growth.
Despite 71% of Atlanta voters approving a transit sales tax in 2016, a proposed $3.
Urban renewal's cost: Affordable housing and culture lost
New York City's artist population has decreased by more than 4% since 2019, marking the first sustained decline in decades.
How to Participate in Local Development Planning for 2026
A small municipality, by adopting a Voluntary Local Review (VLR) process, found its previously siloed departments—from urban planning to social services—suddenly collaborating on shared sustainability
What is zoning and how does it impact community development?
In many communities, the very laws designed to protect property values and ensure orderly development are simultaneously making homes unaffordable and reinforcing historical patterns of segregation.
Historic District Renovation Guidelines for Homeowners
Homeowners in historic districts face severe consequences for overlooking permits or failing to follow local regulations.
How to Start and Sustain a Community Garden for Long-Term Growth
A single community garden can unlock up to $1 million in federal funding, a critical resource for local development.
Verifying Historic Home Claims: The Brooklyn Heights Case
In Brooklyn Heights, two homes, long celebrated as the neighborhood's oldest, are for sale.
What Are Local Zoning Laws and How Can Citizens Influence Them?
Despite countless public meetings and petitions, local residents cannot directly write, change, or expand the zoning laws dictating their neighborhoods’ development.
How to Use Infill Development: A Guide for Local Governments
In Toronto, the 69-acre Regent Park site transformed into a high-density, mixed-income community.
How Property Tax Assessments Work and How to Appeal
A successful property tax appeal for a missing exemption can put a refund check in a homeowner's hand within 3-4 weeks.
What is neighborhood rezoning and how does it affect property values?
In Minneapolis, houses within city limits saw a 3-5% increase in sales price compared to those just outside, immediately following a major neighborhood rezoning initiative where 87% of high redevelopm
What Are Local Zoning Ordinances and How Do They Shape Neighborhoods?
In 2023, the City of Charlotte's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) began permitting duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes, along with Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), in all residential zones without
What are Community Land Trusts and why do they matter for affordable housing?
More than 350,000 affordable rental homes could vanish by 2030, a looming crisis projected by Grounded Solutions that threatens to displace countless families and destabilize urban neighborhoods.
What Is Zoning and How Does It Shape Neighborhood Development?
In San Francisco, zoning laws once dictated that only members of the immediate family one generation out could live together, with the sole exception of live-in servants.
What is the aging population impact on neighborhood services by 2050?
By 2050, the number of people aged 80 and over in the WHO European Region is expected to more than double, fundamentally reshaping local communities and their service demands.
What Is the Role of Neighborhood Associations in Community Development?
Average community event meeting attendance and engagement have dropped in recent years, signaling a quiet crisis for local civic life.
How Zoning Boards Shape Neighborhood Development and Property Values
In 36 states, rising zoning regulations are directly associated with an increase in real average home prices, often making housing less accessible for many.
What Are the Benefits and Challenges of Urban Community Gardens?
While often seen as simple plots of land, urban community gardens are quietly transforming diets and social bonds across neighborhoods.
What Are the Benefits of Walkability in Urban Planning?
While a new park might seem like a simple amenity, it can quietly add millions to nearby commercial property values.