The Urban Portal

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2007 Economic Census and Surveys

Census Bureau
Gives information on number of establishments, sales, receipts, revenue, shipments, or business done, annual payroll, and number of employees

Filed under: Data

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50th Percentile Rent Estimates

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Rent estimates at the 50th percentile (or median) for all Fair Market Rent areas provided by the HUD Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) and HUD USER- an information source for housing and community development researchers, academics, policymakers, and the American public.

Filed under: Data

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American Hometowns

USA.Gov
Visit America's cities, counties, towns, and communities online by searching a state wide directory.  American Hometowns contains detailed directories of city and county home websites and data in all 50 States.   

Filed under: Data

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American Housing Survey (AHS)

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
The AHS is the largest, regular national housing sample survey in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the AHS to obtain up-to-date housing statistics for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). An introductory booklet created by Census Bureau provides an overview of housing data. 

Filed under: Data

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American Planning Association (APA)

APA is an independent, not-for-profit educational organization that provides leadership in the development of vital communities. The American Planning Association was created in 1978 by the consolidation of two separate planning organizations, but its roots go all the way back to 1909 and the first National Conference on City Planning in Washington, D.C.

Filed under: Organizations

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Announcing the 2013 Urban Forums

Between 26 April and 11 May 2013, the Network will host four conferences on the University of Chicago campus in Hyde Park to discuss the built environment, globailization and mobility, political networks and health in cities.

November 29, 2012

Filed under: Issues

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Asset Census Project

University of Chicago Urban Health Initiative
The Asset Census Project aims to create longitudinal census data on all non-residential business and organizations within the 34 communities of the South Side.

Filed under: Data

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Assisted Housing: National and Local

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Picture of Subsidized Households describes the households living in HUD-subsidized housing in the United States for the year providing data from the 1970s through 2008. There is information describing the characteristics of assisted housing units and residents, summarized at various levels, including: national, state, public housing agency (PHA), project, census tract, county, Core-Based Statistical Area and city levels.

Filed under: Data

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Best Practices Database in Improving the Living Environment

UN-HABITAT
This searchable database contains over 3,800 proven solutions from more than 140 countries to the common social, economic and environmental problems of an urbanizing world. It demonstrates the practical ways in which public, private and civil society sectors are working together to improve governance, eradicate poverty, provide access to shelter, land and basic services, protect the environment and support economic development.

Filed under: Links

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Boston Streets:  Mapping Directory Data

Tufts University
Boston Streets:  Mapping Directory Data contextualizes the people, places and events that have shaped the city from the years before the American Civil War through 20th-century urban renewal.  

Filed under: Links

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Built Environment

With an emphasis on crossing disciplinary boundaries and providing global perspective, each issue of Built Environment focuses on a single subject of contemporary interest to practitioners, academics and students working in a wide range of disciplines. Issues are guest-edited by established international experts who not only commission contributions, but also oversee the peer-reviewing process in collaboration with the journal’s editors. Subject areas include: architecture; conservation; economic development; environmental planning; health; housing; regeneration; social issues; spatial planning; sustainability; urban design; and transport. All issues include reviews of recent publications

Filed under: Journals

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Can anchor institutions build communities?

In a profile of Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood, the New York Times described the area dominated by Columbia University and Barnard College as one of the most desirable places to live in Manhattan. The universities are “anchor institutions,” acting as real estate developers, generators of human capital, and employers. So far, the academic and political debate about these organizations has not resolved whether these strategic investments build community and revitalize neighborhoods.

June 01, 2012

Filed under: Issues

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Can public art reverse urban decay?

American cities as diverse as Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Cleveland, have made significant investments over the past few decades in community-based art projects. One example is Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Project. Since 1984, the project has created over 3,000 murals, generating a slew of tourist attractions. Such considerable investments by Philadelphia and other cities beg the question of whether arts projects, aside from their aesthetic value, will have lasting effects on the community.

December 01, 2011

Filed under: Issues

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Can the “Rust Belt” be revitalized?

Between 1950 and 2008, Detroit, once a city of almost 2 million, lost about half of its residents. What used to be a symbol of American prosperity has become the most prominent example of postindustrial urban decay. A recent book has analyzed the origins of the population decline and proposed strategies for revitalizing the former manufacturing cities in the Midwest and Northeast of the United States.

July 01, 2012

Filed under: Issues

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Canadian Urban Institute

The Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) is a Toronto-based not for profit organization with a national and international reach. Through our work we seek to create a world of thriving, sustainable, harmonious and engaged urban regions.

Filed under: Organizations

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Census of Agriculture

United States Department of Agriculture
Complete count of U.S. Farms and ranches and the people who operate them. Includes data on land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expendures, and other information. Taken every five years.

Filed under: Data

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Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT)

Since 1978, Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) has promoted urban sustainability—the more effective use of existing resources and community assets to improve the health of natural systems and the wealth of people, today and in the future. CNT is a creative think-and-do tank that combines rigorous research with effective solutions. CNT works across disciplines and issues, including transportation and community development, energy, water, and climate change.

Filed under: Organizations

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Center for Urban and Regional Studies

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Created in 1957, the Center for Urban and Regional Studies is one of the oldest university-based research centers of its kind. The Center's mission is to promote and support within UNC-Chapel Hill, high-quality basic and applied research on urban, regional and rural planning and policy issues. The Center seeks to generate new knowledge of urban and regional processes and problems and ultimately to improve living conditions in our communities. This is done by involving the University's faculty and graduate students in large, multidisciplinary research projects and smaller, more narrowly focused projects. The Center's mission also includes promoting the use of the research it facilitates.

Filed under: Organizations

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Center for Urban Policy Research

Rutgers University
The Center for Urban Policy Research conducts basic and applied research on a broad spectrum of public policy issues, including affordable housing, land use policy, environmental impact analysis, state planning, public finance, land development practice, historic preservation, infrastructure assessment, development impact analysis, the costs of sprawl, transportation information systems, environmental impacts, and community economic development. 

Filed under: Organizations

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Center for Urban Studies- University at Buffalo

University at Buffalo
The Center for Urban Studies (CENTER) is a research and community development unit located in the UB School of Architecture and Planning. It's mission is to (1) engage in research that produces knowledge which contributes to understanding and solving the problem of neighborhood distress and building a sustainable urban metropolis (2) develop a model for transforming distressed urban neighborhoods into socially functional communities that are based on the principles of solidarity, collaboration, cosmopolitanism, reciprocity, participatory democracy and social justice, and (3) train students in urban and regional planning with the ability to recreate and rebuild a sustainable metropolis based on socioeconomic justice. 

Filed under: Organizations

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Center for Urban Studies- Wayne State University

Wayne State University
The mission of Wayne State University's Center for Urban Studies is to improve understanding of and provide innovative responses to urban challenges and opportunities. Committed to serving Detroit and its metropolitan area, the Center pursues its mission by conducting and disseminating research, developing policies and programs, and providing training, capacity-building, and technical assistance.

The Center participates in defining and influencing local, regional, state and national urban policy. It engages community, government, institutions, and policymakers in collaboration with university faculty and resources to transform knowledge into action.

Filed under: Organizations

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CEOs for Cities

A civic lab of today's urban leaders catalyzing a movement to advance the next generation of great American cities. 

Filed under: Organizations

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Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development

DePaul University
The Chaddick Institute, located at DePaul University in Chicago, advances the principles of effective land use, transportation and community planning. Founded in 1993, the institute offers planners, attorneys, developers, and entrepreneurs a forum to share expertise on difficult land-use issues through workshops, conferences and policy studies.

Filed under: Organizations

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Chicago Architecture Foundation

The Chicago Architecture Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public interest and education in architecture and design. The Chicago Architecture Foundation presents a comprehensive program of tours, exhibitions, lectures, special events, and adult and youth education activities, all designed to enhance the public’s awareness and appreciation of Chicago’s outstanding architectural legacy.

Filed under: Organizations

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Chicago GIS Datasets

The University of Chicago
This page provides links to several ArcView shapefiles for local political boundaries in the Chicago area. It also contains a link to a 1980 tract boundary file for Northeastern Illinois and Northwestern Indiana. 

Filed under: Data

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Chicago Imagebase

The Chicago Imagebase is a Web-based project aimed at enhancing knowledge about the built environment of the Chicago region. On this site you will find a wide variety of images and other data along with information on how to use this data to study the city.

Filed under: Data

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Chicago Metropolis 2020

Chicago-based organization promoting regional development in the Chicagoland area

Filed under: Organizations

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Chicago Metropolitan Area for Planning

Official metropolitan planning organization for the seven counties of northeastern Illinois

Filed under: Organizations

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Cities and Buildings Database

University of Washington Library
The Cities and Buildings Database is a collection of digitized images of buildings and cities drawn from across time and throughout the world, available to students, researchers and educators on the web.

Begun in 1995, the collection was conceived as a multi-disciplinary resource for students, faculty, and others in the academic community. It has grown steadily since then, with contributions from a wide range of scholars, and contains images ranging from New York to Central Asia, from African villages, to the Parc de la Villette, and conceptual sketches and models of Frank Gehry's Experience Music Project. These have all been scanned from original slides or drawn from documents in the public domain.

Filed under: Links

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Cities Centre

University of Toronto
Cities Centre is a multi-disciplinary research institute. The mandate of the Centre is broad: to encourage and facilitate research, both scholarly and applied, on cities and on a wide range of urban policy issues, both in Canada and abroad, and to provide a gateway for communication between the University and the broader urban community.

Filed under: Organizations

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Cities in the 21st Century

International Honors Program
Cities in the 21st Century program examines the intentional and natural forces that guide the development of the world’s cities. It combines an innovative urban studies academic curriculum with fieldwork involving public agencies, planners, elected officials, NGOs and grassroots groups in important world cities where exciting changes are taking place.

Filed under: Links

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