Yeah, with the exception of a handful of projects and regulatory reforms, there is hardly any good stuff coming out of the US, much less Boulder. Colorado (much thanks to activists in Boulder) recently lifted occupancy limits, which is huge, but it doesn't change the fact the state is still a maze of highways and sprawl, even in Boulder. It's such a bummer because Boulder is one of the few inland American cities with geographic constraints (mountains and some big ridges on south and north sides of town) to curb sprawl.

There's lots of cool stuff in Europe, most of it old, but some new, particularly Eco-Districts happening all over the continent.

I've been cheering vacancy taxes for years. It's bad enough spaces are empty from an economic and ecological standpoint, especially when people could be activating those spaces. But like you said of Fresno, it makes downtowns lifeless, such that no one wants to visit them.