Economic development is vital for most communities. But what kind of development and where it best fits are often challenging questions.These articles & postings consider various aspects of planning for local economic development.
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Textiles mills once dominated the Haw River’s economy. But by the 1990s, most of the mills had closed and the mill towns struggled to survive. In recent years, mill structures have been rehabbed for a new generation of residents, and a wide variety of new uses.
Taking a look at the critically important economic impact that cultural tourism has in North Carolina’s Triangle region.
PlannersWeb Editor Wayne Senville continues his reflections on Portland, Oregon, with a look at transportation and land use, and how the city has become a leader in the “dead freeway” movement.
Hillsboro, Oregon — a fast-growing western suburb of Portland — is seeking to revive its downtown “main street” district by focusing on arts and culture.
My first stop in Portland was “First Stop Portland” — a unique nonprofit designed to help visiting planners (and others in related fields) get familiar with the city and region, and make connections with other professionals.
As a follow up to her previous column on approaches to bringing commercial uses closer to residential neighborhoods, Wendy Grey outlines some basic development standards for neighborhood commercial zoning districts.
Residents in established neighborhoods will often be very concerned about zoning proposals to allow new commercial uses close to their neighborhood. The question planners and planning commissioners must be able to answer is how the creation of a commercial district near a neighborhood will be a positive change.
A brief overview of tax increment financing: how it works, and some of the pros and cons in using it.
The small city of Bath, Maine, calls itself the “City of Ships.” We’ll see why in this report about Bath and its giant employer, the Bath Iron Works.
In today’s economy, there are generally limited opportunities to attract industry from somewhere else — that is, to grow from the outside in. But local assets often provide strong potential for communities to reinvent themselves from the inside out. A look at what that involves.
Too often cities have scrambled to attract new businesses … from anywhere. But a different approach has started to take hold. It involves planting local economic seeds and nurturing them to be the new garden of opportunity.
Ed McMahon, the Urban Land Institute’s Senior Fellow for Sustainable Development, provided a riveting talk focusing on changing trends in economic development, and how they are shaping our communities.
In 2005, the Brunswick (Maine) Naval Air Station was designated for closure — one of more than 350 military installations ordered closed between 1989 and 2005. A look at progress on redevelopment plans for this sprawling, 3300 acre facility.
