This year, several Urban Land Institute members finished strong in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star National Building Competition to see who could reduce their energy use the most.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, states that are now the most business-friendly are inland locales, ranging from Kentucky and Tennessee in the east, westward to Wyoming and Utah.

While the grass may not always be “greener on the other side,” cities may be considerably greener on the other side of the Atlantic—such as Hamburg, Germany, the 2011 European Green Capital.

Many U.S. cities—and suburban town centers—are looking for ways to make themselves more age-friendly. These amenities will be key to attracting residents who prefer to age in place and the growing number of empty nesters drawn to urban life.

This year marks the 85th anniversary of the landmark United States Supreme Court case Euclid v Ambler Realty, which upheld the basic constitutionality of local zoning. Given the current debate between liberals and conservatives about the appropriate role of regulation in shaping our economy and our communities, it seems timely to ask the question: do we still need zoning?

According to Emerging Trends, the real estate report from PWC and ULI presented at a ULI 2011 Fall Meeting press conference in L.A. last week, a handful of urban centers are climbing out of recession and may serve as models for the rest of the country. Washington, D.C., remained the number-one city for the third consecutive year; read more to see how the other cities fared in this year’s survey.

The much-maligned Bank of America is working “hard” on a short sale-to-lease program for distressed borrowers who don’t qualify for government-backed refinance programs, says BofA executive Ron Sturzenegger to a session on capital markets at ULI’s 2011 Fall Meeting in Los Angeles. Read more to learn the details of how the bank expects to tackle today’s huge inventory of foreclosed properties.

The Avenue, located at one of the most coveted corners in Hollywood’s current renaissance, was developed as a condominium by an affiliate of John Laing Homes, now submerged in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The seven-story condominium development was 70 percent complete when Laing halted construction. Read how the property is being repositioned and what the developer considers a key to its approach.

Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, now has one of the nation’s most successful home retrofitting campaigns—Go Green Nashville. It started two years ago as a small pilot initiative by the ULI Nashville Sustainability Committee, targeting an urban neighborhood within the city, and has now taken off. Read more to discover what has made this community-based initiative so successful and what lessons can be applied in your area.

At one time, highway teardown projects in urban U.S. cities were rare, with about one occurring each decade. In the 1970s, Portland closed Harbor Drive. In the 1990s, San Francisco tore down the Embarcadero Freeway. And in the 2000s, Milwaukee removed the Park East Freeway spur. But this decade, freeway removal projects are gaining popularity. Read a list of the top 10 highway teardown projects based on progress made toward teardown.