In case you haven't heard, and most people haven't, the Arizona Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) provides up to 22% in purchase assistance from the Arizona Department of Housing for people  purchasing a foreclosure property.  Yep, free money - as long as you play by their rules....
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Orlando International Airport jumped on-board the state's latest high-speed railroad proposal Wednesday.   The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority has backed previous Tampa-to-Orlando high speed rail proposals over the past  decade or more,  and has even spent an estimated $15 million roughing in space at the airport for the railroad and its Orlando terminal....
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Advocates for moderate-income housing, "Smart Growth" and transit-oriented development are all heralding a new federal proposal modeled along the lines of the state's HOMEConnecticut program. The so-called Livable Communities Act would offer federal money to communities that encourage affordable housing development clustered near public transportation.
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With airlines cutting back service in a weak economy, some cities that are too big to qualify for federal help but too small to keep the planes flying in have stepped up with ways to hang on: paying the airlines, either directly or indirectly.....
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Georgetown Land Development Company got good news last week - it has the money it needs for two intersection improvements and approval from the State Traffic Commission for a phasing-in plan crucial to the redevelopment project......
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Beijing's transit development is at a crossroads. The capital of the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases is in danger of locking itself into a pattern of Los Angeles-type sprawl with ever-rising CO2 emissions, a new World Bank study finds......
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Is it any wonder that neighbors continue to oppose density (oops, I meant "compact development") when this is what we have been giving them?  We smart growth advocates have gotten lazy.  The issue has evolved in the last decade but, for the most part, we haven't.  We're stuck in a mindset from the 1990s when it was such a monumental achievement to get density built near transit that we were happy even when it was mediocre density.  Unfortunately, more often than not, that's what we've been getting.....
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My latest Urban Land magazine article, entitled Light Rail in Charlotte, was published in the July 2009 issue. Read Light Rail in Charlotte here.....
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