Unless you have been living in a cave in Tora Bora, you have read and heard the words “sustainability” and “sustainable development” a lot in the popular media. The words are put before you in magazine articles, television interviews or conference flyers daily.

So what is “sustainable development” and where did it come from? Did Al Gore invent it? Well, all evidence to the contrary, Al was a little late to the sustainability party. His 1992 book, “Earth in the Balance” and the subsequent Oscar winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” were only about 35 years after the fact.

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Ballot initiatives for laws that consider a downzoning a partial taking if it hurts property values, along with new barriers to land acquisition through eminent domain, will be the unraveling of the environmental and land use planning gains made in the United States in the 20th century. writes Richard Carson.

Every once in a while a state voter initiative catches people's attention, and it takes the center stage nationally. Examples include creating term limits, setting property tax caps, and banning same-sex marriages. The next big trend is all about property rights, and it is well under way in 23 states.

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A convergence of renewed interest in urban downtowns, attractive retail rents, and the popularity of do-it-yourself home improvement and interior decorating could result in downtown being tomorrow's hot "furniture row," writes Michael Stumpf.

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