Exclusives

BLOG POST

VMT Reductions: An Excellent Idea When Correctly Evaluated

OK Bob – I’ll Take Your Challenge Last year, California, passed SB 375, which requires regional governments to develop smart growth-oriented land use and transportation plans aimed at reducing VMT.

June 15 - Todd Litman

BLOG POST

How walkable is it?

Recently, an acquaintance asked me how to measure the walkability of a place he was visiting. I could have told him to just look at Walkscore (<a href="http://www.walkscore.com/">www.walkscore.com</a>). Walkscore assigns scores to places based on their proximity to a wide variety of destinations. So if a place has a high walkscore AND a walkable street design (e.g. narrow streets, a grid system, etc.) it is probably pretty walkable.

June 14 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

Thunder and Excitement at CNU 17

Reporting from CNU 17 in Denver, where the thundercracks shook the Sheraton at various points throughout the day. Somehow though I've managed to be outside only when the sun is out.

June 12 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

Civilization Planning?

When we think of cities in antiquity, we don’t hesitate to think of them in association with their respective civilizations. After all, the words civic and civilization share the same root word in Latin, civitas. Similarly, we can now say that we live in a globalized civilization largely structured on what author Jeb Brugmann refers to in his new book <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Welcome-Urban-Revolution-Cities-Changing/dp/1596915668/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244824502&sr=1-1">Welcome to the Urban Revolution</a> as the global City. However, in our focus as planners on addressing concerns with current development projects and other local issues we might be forgiven for sometimes losing touch with this larger picture: that the city is still the focal point and driver for those processes we refer to as civilization.

June 12 - Michael Dudley

FEATURE

Community Energy Planning and the Stimulus -- Take a Time Out!

Stimulus money is available for a variety of energy efficiency projects, but many understaffed cities are having trouble meeting the impending deadlines. Jessica Millman, Joe Schilling, and Kathryn McCarty have found a loophole that can help.

June 11 - Joe Schilling

BLOG POST

The New Normative Planning

The conference bags handed out to the attendees of the 2007 National Planning conference in Philadelphia had four words printed on one side: value, choice, engagement, community. The words echo the <a href="http://www.planning.org/apaataglance/mission.htm">long mission statement</a> of the American Planning Association, evidence of what I <a href="/node/34936">described</a> last year as the pragmatic position of the profession that refrains from making a larger argument about the form of the city. Here's a taste:<blockquote> "Our collaborative efforts will continue to result in great success for APA and the vital communities we strive to support, and APA members will continue to help create communities of lasting value. We value choice and community engagement, diversity, inclusion and social equity."</blockquote>Since then, a new program from the organization and other evidence may suggest a subtle shift in professional values now underway.

June 10 - Robert Goodspeed

BLOG POST

Thinking by the Square Foot

"Buyers value the dollar per square foot, and the builder responds by delivering as many square feet of conditioned space as possible for $X. If he can deliver 100 more square feet than the competition, most buyers think it's a better value." -Ron Jones, Green Builder Magazine, in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040600934.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.

June 9 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

Will Developing Nations Drive/Follow in our Faulted Footsteps?

The growth in hybrid car sales is a welcome sign that a major change in the automobile industry is afoot. The shift to transport infrastructure that is not based on the archaic complexity of an internal combustion engine, with its hundreds of moving parts and compressed fuel explosions, has been long put off by an automobile industry, happy with status quo, partnered with oil cartels with the power to price their product as if it were in endless supply. But with smack-in-the-face-reality fuel prices last summer, the collapse of the so-called “Big Three” over the winter, and the simultaneous heralding assertion of alternative energy technologies (Daimler AG <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/19/news/companies/tesla_daimler_electric/index.htm?postversion=2009051915">bought a 10% stake in Tesla Motors</a> last month!), the fallout of western economic near-collapse has changed everything we’ve known to be sacrosanct; Leonard Lopate even waxed nostalgic about the “<a href="http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/episodes/2009/06/08">Death of the Car Song</a>” yesterday on National Public Radio’s local station, WNYC.

June 9 - Ian Sacs

BLOG POST

Potential Energy & Renewable Resource Mapping - PERRM™

One important planning approach for sustainable living is how to locate and integrate the natural and man-made attributes of the land to configure a low-carbon site for large scale development.

June 8 - Rick Abelson

BLOG POST

Vacancy, It's Not Just For Cities Anymore

Thanks to the <a href="http://www.vacantproperties.org/index.html">National Vacant Properties Campaign</a> for another important conference on vacant properties - this time in Louisville. I was duly <a href="/node/27856">impressed with the first conference</a> on the subject a year and a half ago but what struck me this time was the growing diversity of voices concerned with the issue. At the last conference, I (and I assume many others) had the feeling that it was a therapy session of sorts for like-minded spirits. "Older industrial" cities were sharing information and ideas because, while all cities are unique, we share a lot of the same challenges.

June 8 - Scott Page

FEATURE

Crafting the Next Generation of Smart Growth Policies

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy spent two years looking at smart growth policies in a number of states to see how well they've achieved their goals. Gregory K. Ingram, President of the Institute, explains the results.

June 8 - Gregory K. Ingram

BLOG POST

Comprehensive Evaluation of Transit Oriented Development Benefits

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) refers to communities with high quality public transit services, good walkability, and compact, mixed land use. This allows people to choose the best option for each trip: walking and cycling for local errands, convenient and comfortable public transit for travel along major urban corridors, and automobile travel to more dispersed destinations. People who live and work in such communities tend to own fewer vehicles, drive less, and rely more on alternative modes.

June 7 - Todd Litman

BLOG POST

The Garbage Genius of Paris

I just got back from my first trip to Europe, where the cities are a lot older and a lot different than they are here in the New World. I made many observations on my brief trip, which included Paris and Barcelona, and I'm sure those will bubble up in blog posts in the near future. However, I won't waste anyone's time remarking about how great European cities are. We've all heard it before, and while it may be right, the point has been made. Like, really made. So, yes, the narrow streets are nice to walk on, the bike sharing system in Paris is awesome, and the architecture is impressive. But one piece of these cities that hasn't receioved enough praise is their garbage cans.

June 6 - Nate Berg

BLOG POST

The Housing Boom and Bust: Where Was Planning?

It was the collapse of the housing bubble that triggered the current economic crisis. As is the case in the aftermath of many calamities finger pointing abounds. There are an ample number of would be culprits. Take your pick; The Federal Reserve for keeping interest rates too low, mortgage brokers for pushing inappropriate loans, ratings agencies for blessing dubious securities, the list goes on. A common criticism aimed at all of these culprits is that they lacked the foresight to see the inevitable housing bust. It was the housing bubble that camouflaged all of the bad decisions.

June 5 - Lance Freeman

BLOG POST

wish you were here: liveblog from the Association for Community Design Annual Conference

I’m watching local Rochester-area advocates respond to presentations by three panelists on the subject of “Community Food Supply and Environmental Justice” at the <a href="http://communitydesign.org/Annual_Conference.htm">Association for Community Design annual conference</a>. We’re here hosted by the Rochester <a href="http://www.rrcdc.org/">Regional Community Design Center</a>.

June 5 - Jess Zimbabwe

BLOG POST

SPECIAL: NYC Releases 2009 Street Design Manual, Pigs Fly

Once again, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) delightfully surprises the design community with another major leap forward in making city streets a public realm for all users (I can’t tell you how odd it still feels to write that). As if the impressive, incessant roll-out of bike lanes, successful implementation of the “Select Bus Service”, and the unprecedented changes to Times Square and its environs weren’t enough to pique the imaginations of New Yorkers used to streets built for cars, NYCDOT has just issued their “<a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/about/streetdesignmanual.shtml">2009 Street Design Manual</a>”. Planners and Engineers, get ready for a thrill!

June 3 - Ian Sacs

BLOG POST

The Automobile Industry and National Economic Development

Automobile industry subsidies are an inefficient way to support economic development. Even worse, policies intended to support automobile manufacturers and recover loans can be economically harmful.

June 3 - Todd Litman

BLOG POST

Walkable vs. Unwalkable Airports

I’ve read some airport-related planning literature about the interiors of airports and about their public transit connections. (For a good example of the latter, see <a href="/node/34842">http://www.planetizen.com/node/34842</a> ) But one other difference between airports relates to their exteriors: the difference between walkable airports and not-so-walkable airports.

June 2 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

Mad Tea Party At Our Airports

On my coveted “Bane of Americana” list just behind my cell phone company's automated customer support option to “Press '3' To Stay On Hold” (not kidding!), is the so-called “Passenger Pick-Up System” at airport terminals. Instead of realizing a purported orderly and safe system, by forcing cars to circuit the entire loop road in an attempt to perfectly intercept with arriving passengers, airports are perpetuating a half-brained scheme reminiscent of Disney World's Mad Tea Party ride. <img src="/files/u20603/madteaparty.jpg" width="448" height="336" /> It's Always Six O'Clock At Terminal Eight!

June 1 - Ian Sacs

FEATURE

Histories of No History: Commodification and Urbanization in the American West

Josh Stephens reviews two biographies of cities, The Dallas Myth: The Making and Unmaking of An American City and Reno’s Big Gamble: Image and Reputation in the Biggest Little City.

June 1 - Josh Stephens