Before the buses became a symbol for San Francisco’s gentrification woes, they were just a fleet of several hundred private coaches that whisked some seventeen thousand workers around San Francisco and to and from the Silicon Valley campuses of such companies as Apple, Google, and Genentech. [...]

San Francisco is deep into a second tech boom—and, with it, many less affluent workers are getting priced out of the city. — newyorker.com

There’s a movement afoot to bring new money into urban areas all over the country, and surprisingly, Phoenix, is part of that movement.

The city has long been famous for its suburban sprawl. But now, plans are moving ahead to link high-rise downtown with a neighboring Latino barrio that wealthy developers have mostly ignored for the better part of 100 years. Not a shovel of dirt has moved, though neighbors already have expectations and fears. — marketplace.org

Later it was the stamping ground of the 19th century’s version of today’s “starchitects,” including Andrew Jackson Downing and his disciples, like Calvert Vaux and Frederick Clarke Withers. Their work — grand Second Empire Victorian, Gothic revival and Queen Anne houses — is everywhere — NYT

Take the public transportation provided by corporate shuttle buses from the likes of Apple, Google, Facebook, and others. It’s not news that these shuttles, and the big digital tech companies that run them, are changing the fabric of San Francisco as we’ve known it. What feels new is that it’s not enough to say that change is coming soon. It’s already, very much here. — wired.com

Does the fact that Whole Foods Market is opening a store in Detroit surprise you? Well, a lot of Motor City residents were surprised by the decision, too.

The move does signal that a little pocket of Motown is thriving. And that’s great news – especially to Detroiters, who have seen their city eulogized ad nauseum in recent years. But the level of affluence in the neighborhood surrounding Whole Foods is well below what you would see in other cities that have undergone urban revival. — marketplace.org

A new boutique hotel perched on top of one of Rio's previously most dangerous favelas is about to open. And yes, there is a jazz club and yoga, too.

These are new services catering to a new kind of favela resident.

"It's actually very conveniently located for my work," says Natalie Shoup, a 22-year-old American who lives in a favela called Babilonia, or Babylon. "This has a good amount of transportation to every part of the city. It's nice. It worked out really well." — npr.org

"The new album narrates urban life. It is rather personal music, bound up with this city, there are images of an asphalt jungle and a house that is being built in a city, and we always support the ones who don't have power." -Baba Zula — Qantara.de

College towns have weathered the recession and housing collapse more than the rest of America, but the neighborhood around USC is an exception. Now USC is planning what local officials call the biggest project in South Los Angeles in a generation — 35 acres, complete with restaurants, shops, a six-screen theater, faculty office space and student housing. Will gentrification push local residents out, or is the university — often accused of ignoring its neighbors — be doing them a favor? — Which Way, L.A.?

The press blames black flight from major cities on whites, but history and numbers show that's not true — the Atlantic