An Incredible Time-Capsule View of One Downtown’s Development
Can tearing up a noted artistic zone be a path to civic success? City leaders say yes, while some of their citizens say no.
Economic Development
221 posts
Cars, Pedestrians, and the Struggle for the Future of Downtowns
Plus: how much is any discussion of "downtown" a coded talk about race?
California’s Improbable Navel-Orange Queen
Eliza Tibbets was a suffragist, abolitionist, and spiritualist—and the mother of California's orange industry.
Fresno to South Bend to Louisville: The Elusive Elements of Civic Success
More cities, more assessments of what works, and why.
Can Cars Save Downtown?
Fresno, California prepares to rip up its landmark pedestrian mall and replace it with a street.
Asheville Just ‘Happened’ to Develop a Nice Downtown or Did It
In the immortal words from Liberty Valance, "when the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Herewith the legend and reality of Asheville.
Equal Time for Tampa, and More on Asheville Too
Catching up with changes in major cities, and in the Atlantic's own web site
More on Nice Downtowns: Do They Just Happen? Or Are They Made?
Tampa has kept trying to revive its downtown, and has kept failing. Asheville has been wildly successful—but was it even trying at all?
The Dilemmas of Maker Culture
Thinking through the consequences of the proliferation of powerful tools and technologies
Nice Downtowns: How Did They Get That Way?
"Visitors think, 'That's just how Seattle is.' But it wasn't." Lessons via places ranging from Fresno to Shanghai.
How Makerspaces Help Local Economies
New technologies like 3-D printers and laser cutters have boosted entrepreneurial activity in American communities.
Three Ways of Thinking About Fresno (and Why You Should Care)
A beleaguered city shows the path toward revival.
From Xizhou to Eastport to Ajo: Big Dreams in Small Towns
The same kind of ambition you see in political campaigns, races for sports championships, or attempts to score a big IPO—but toward a different end.
Creating California’s New Bohemia in an Unexpected Locale
"It's a great time to be an artist in Fresno." This is a possibility I had never considered before visiting. And now ...
Ajo, Arizona: Oasis in the Desert
How a city with century-old "good bones" tries to reinvent itself.
Ajo, Arizona: A Small Town Pushed to the Brink, and Coming Back
What does a town do when most of its people lose their jobs nearly overnight? For the people of this small town, the surprising answer places heavy emphasis on the arts.