According to the most recent Census data, the city of Detroit lost over 237,000 people over the past decade. Today, the Motor City has a population of only 713,777, making Detroit America’s 18th most populated city. The Census findings fit nicely into the narrative of Detroit as a modern-day ghost town. However, say argue that the city's blight is also an opportunity to build a new urban environment with opportunities to create a new local economy.

Later today, a philanthropic collaborative called Living Cities will announce $80 million in grants, loans and investments that it will split among five cities: Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Newark, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Considering the size of major American city budgets, an average of $15 million isn't actually a ton of money, considering some of the systemic problems facing each of those cities. Living Cities hopes to use the cash as seed money, aiming to to stimulate self-sustaining urban renewal projects that will help each area for years to come.  

So has Living Cities found a way to get the most ameliorative bang for their philanthropic buck?

For nearly two weeks, a stretch of highway outside Beijing saw monster gridlock, which stretched out over sixty miles and trapped drivers on China's National Highway 110 for days. It had been expected to last until mid-September, but last Thursday, after eleven days, the traffic jam suddenly broke.

Many people, of course, are wondering: Where did it go? How did it start? And could this kind of jam happen again?

Despite the bad rap that suburbs often get for being dull and sterile, more than half of Americans live there. As more people move to the suburbs, the demographics are changing. Urbanization, density, crime, and immigration are now defining factors of the 'burbs. We're joined by Robert Puentes, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program, and Larry Levy, executive director of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.  And we want to hear from you! What do you see as the good parts of the suburbs?»

Even though many economists are proclaiming the "Great Recession" ending or over, the nearly 10 percent of Americans who are unemployed probably find it difficult to imagine exactly what a prosperous, post-recession America will look like. Richard Florida, author of "The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity," says that's because the crash has fundamentally altered how we feel about spending and saving. He says we're all in the process of resetting the way we work and live.

We started the conversation by asking the question: Have you remade your life because of this recession?

Across America, dozens of towns have seen their populations shrink in the past few years. For cities like Detroit or Cleveland, the demographic decline started well before the economic downturn. For others, like Las Vegas, it’s a brand-new phenomenon. Local governments are trying to adjust to the new reality, and some of them are choosing to downsize. The Kansas City Board of Education voted last Wednesday to shut down nearly half its schools due to dwindling enrollment. And last week, Detroit's mayor announced that the city will demolish thousands of its vacant homes.

It's been almost two weeks since the 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti and the government has formally called an end to the search and rescue efforts. The focus of relief will soon shift from treating the wounded survivors to embarking on the long slog of rebuilding a collapsed city. We get an update on the overall situation there and then we examine how other cities dealt with reconstruction challenges after a disaster like this.

When you think about the American suburb, do you see a pretty place with nice houses and neat lawns, or a dead end where you have to drive 20 minutes just for a quart of milk? Are suburbs the American dream or nightmare? Let us know.

What's your take? Leave a comment below or record your story at 1-877-8-MY-TAKE.   "It was great as a kid, but horrible as a teenager." (6/12/2009)

  "The one thing I liked was that I could find quiet spots in nature..." (6/12/2009)

  "The children in suburbia didn't seem to have the street smarts that I would've had." (6/12/2009)

  "Little boxes made of ticky tacky and they all look just the same." (6/12/2009)

  "I do live in the suburbs right now, but I can tell you I really don't like it." (6/12/2009)

  "In the suburbs I would spend a lot of time planning around my car." (6/12/2009)

In Denver, Colorado, a group of urban planners and architects gather this week to debate urban design. How can suburbia and downtown get closer? Joining The Takeaway from Denver is Ellen Dunham, the Director of the Architecture program at Georgia Institute of Technology and the co-author of "Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs".

Like many cities, Denver is struggling to connect its suburbs to its downtown, and to create a new kind of city center. Continuing our series on the New Urbanism, The Takeaway talks to Matt Dellinger. He talks about the city's light rail project and the attempt to design and define new communities.

Follow along on The Takeaway's Urban Safari series.

In the past 50 years, Denver has grown from a small city to a sprawling metropolitan region. With urban sprawl comes gentrification. The Takeaway caught up with Andres Duany, the founding member of the New Urbanism movement, to ask him about gentrification. How do you keep a neighborhood mixed, economically and socially?

Also, hear this bonus web-only interview we did with Duany on urban sprawl!

This week The Takeaway looks at how cities are reinventing themselves for a world that doesn't depend on cars. Transportation writer (and Takeaway Contributor) Matt Dellinger is in Denver, CO, a town that has epitomized American urban sprawl. But Denver wants to reinvent itself and as the host city for the Congress on New Urbanism, the city is well on its way to streamlining its infrastructure. Also joining the conversation is Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, to discuss how his city is reshaping itself.

Above is the 3-minute video that won the Congress for the New Urbanism's 2009 video contest. It's called "Built to Last" and it is from filmmakers First + Main Media from Julian, CA and Paget Films from Buffalo, NY (John Paget, Dr. Chris Elisara, and Drew Ward).

Follow along on The Takeaway's Urban Safari series.

One of the most famously congested and crowded spots in the world is Times Square in New York City. Starting today, segments of its main thoroughfare, Broadway, will be closed to cars. In their place will be more room for pedestrians, and even cafe tables and chairs. The city says the plan will actually relieve traffic congestion. Transportation writer Matt Dellinger joins The Takeaway with a look at why New York is taking this step, and what it might mean for cities around the U.S.

This weekend, 1,100 auto-dealership owners across the country took in the sobering news that their contracts with GM will disappear in the auto maker's reorganization. A huge blow to the dealers who will be losing their livelihoods, the closings also raise the question of what to do with all the shuttered car dealerships. Most cities have at least one strip of town dedicated to car-dealer row. So what will happen when the dealers close up shop? For a few ideas we turn to Ellen Durham-Jones, Director of the Architecture Program at Georgia Tech and co-author of Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs.