Detroit’s real renaissance is now happening in many small places, not the few big ones. Walk around Brush Park, Lower Woodward, and Midtown, and you’ll find all sorts of cool stuff popping up.

Normal, walkable streets are under attack in Celebration, Florida. The battle threatens your neighborhood, wherever you live.

Of the four types of recovery facing America cities and towns—disaster, sprawl, disinvestment, and the recovery of community for those fleeing climate change—the recovery of places from serious disinvestment arguably gets the least amount of press...