Exclusives

BLOG POST

The Slumdog's City in a City

Watching <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slumdog_Millionaire">Slumdog Millionaire</a>, the Oscar winning film of 2008 that is being released <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Slumdog-Millionaire-Dev-Patel/dp/B001P9KR8U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1238435270&sr=1-1">on DVD today</a>, can be a bracing experience for those accustomed to the conveniences of Western living. The destitute living is accurately and graphically depicted and is all too real for those that have seen it. Yet, the real danger is letting the poverty obscure a larger, perhaps more important lesson about urban places: Many of these urban slums are functioning, productive cities in their own right, and represent an intergenerational path toward economic improvement.

March 31 - Samuel Staley

BLOG POST

Cul-de-sacs verboten?: Tim Kaine and Roman Polanski on dead-end streets

As you may have heard in yesterday's <a href="/podcast">Planetizen Podcast</a>, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/21/AR2009032102248.html">doesn't like cul-de-sacs</a>. Most news reports on the story have claimed that the state is "forbidding," "banning," or even "outlawing" the cul-de-sac. In fact, Virginia municipalities can still design, build, and approve any road patterns they wish, but the State will no longer agree to foot the bill for the ongoing maintenance of cul-de-sacs. The news item came up in a staff meeting yesterday and one colleague told us that a friend he was having dinner with declared the move "Un-American!"

March 31 - Jess Zimbabwe

BLOG POST

Citifying a Suburban Shopping Centre

In a past post, I wrote on the plan to urbanize Vancouver's Oakridge Centre, our first car-oriented "suburban" shopping centre <a href="/node/35542" target="_blank">(see past post here for information, report-links and images)</a>. Some have asked how the downturn has affected the plans to proceed - as we were only anticipating going through the next steps of planning and design (rezoning) in the next year or so, with some time before the owners were planning on initiating the physical transformation of the mall, I believe they remain in "wait-and-see" mode regarding possible timing of first phases, relative to the market.

March 30 - Brent Toderian

BLOG POST

Will Planning Happen in the Dark?

Since the passage of <a href="http://www.fcc.gov/telecom.html">The Telecommunications Act of 1996</a>, media activists have been warning that a combination of consolidated corporate ownership of media outlets and a correspondingly intense profit orientation is resulting in diminished diversity of opinion, an avoidance of controversies and loss of choice for media consumers. In particular, they are concerned that remotely-owned newspapers, television and radio stations are incapable of adequately meeting local information needs, reporting on local issues and expressing local concerns.

March 30 - Michael Dudley

BLOG POST

Whither the Regional Planning?

Over a year ago <a href="/node/28197" target="_blank">I blogged about</a> a conference of urban historians where the group debated a talk, titled "Whither the Region?," where historian Greg Hise observed the group was talking about regional history less. In my response, I suggested several causes: limited decision-making at the regional level in America, center city biases among historical sources like newspapers, and metropolitan areas growing to encompass entire regions due to urban sprawl. I also observed that although it may go unstudied by the group, a good number of regional planning organizations and agencies do exist.

March 29 - Robert Goodspeed

BLOG POST

Traveling beyond LOS (By foot? On a bike?)

Let me start with a disclaimer: I am not a transportation planner. At the points where transportation planning shares borders with engineering, I tend to zone out and start doodling in the margins. I do, however, have a lifelong interest in transportation, which is why I share the excitement of some of my more transportation-focused colleagues about potential changes in how California measures transportation impacts of projects.

March 28 - Lisa Feldstein

BLOG POST

And Let Tata Be A Lesson To You!

Worldwide media coverage earlier this week of Tata Motors unveiling their Nano car-for-the-masses brings the argument over individual car ownership to the forefront yet again. Thanks to one hundred or so years of clever marketing, our society glorifies the bling of a shiny new car, demands auto ownership as a basic right, and proclaims its necessity to be (almost) as critical as water, food, and shelter.

March 25 - Ian Sacs

BLOG POST

A Pig In A Parlor

The state of Virginia’s decision to limit the use of cul-de-sacs in residential subdivisions(1) will no doubt create a torrent of commentary, both pro and con. In the residential context, cul-de-sacs do have certain advantages: they limit traffic near homes, thus allegedly creating quieter environments for homeowners. So perhaps there is a case for the residential cul-de-sac. But in a commercial setting, the cul-de-sac may be the "right thing in the wrong place--such as a pig in a parlor instead of a barnyard.”(2) In such settings, the cul-de-sac has the same disadvantages as the residential cul-de-sac, with few of the advantages.

March 23 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

Smart Growth And Housing Affordability

In a recent <a href="/node/37775">blog</a> I emphasized the value of using smart growth policies to increase household affordability and support regional economic development. In his blog, “<a href="/node/37738">Planning Foreclosures</a>,” Samuel Staley reaches a very different conclusion.

March 23 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

Citizen Recovery Efforts Hit Government Barriers in New Orleans

March 23 - Roberta Brandes Gratz

BLOG POST

Houston's Housing Lessons

The planning profession’s ambivalence toward Houston has always been a little frustrating. In part, the profession’s attitude is understandable. Houston hasn’t embraced planning’s conventions, so why should the profession embrace Houston? Fair enough. But the downside is losing the opportunity to look at core issues and problems from a completely different lens. This is especially true when it comes to housing development where Houston performs remarkably better than its peers.

March 20 - Samuel Staley

BLOG POST

Free Pancakes, Free Rides, and (Almost) Free Beer

We Americans love a discount. Wal-Mart and the discount retail boom are proof enough of that. What we love even more, though, is free stuff. Just slap the word "free" before almost anything and we'll line up. This mentality represents some challenges for cities, but also some opportunities. The challenge is that if people don't have to pay for something, they probably won't. And the opportunity is that if people don't have to pay for something, they're way more likely to want it. Let's think of this concept in terms of three innately American traditions: pancakes, mobility, and beer.

March 19 - Nate Berg

FEATURE

How Far Can $1.3 Billion Take Amtrak?

March 19 - Judy Chang

BLOG POST

The Copenhagen Approach To "Traffic" Could Transform Your City!

Our world and our cities, would be so very different, if all of the Directors of Traffic thought like Niels Tørsløv of Copenhagen - especially if, like Niels, all such Directors were trained as landscape architects. What if the "traffic problem" was about too many bikes, and the "parking problem" was about how to deal with so many bikes overtaking the public spaces and sidewalks?

March 16 - Brent Toderian

BLOG POST

High Speed Rail-In-America Redux

High Speed Rail (HSR) is the favorite moniker to describe the new era of trains envisioned and partially down-paid by the recent stimulus. The idea, linking major regional corridors via fast trains that rival door-to-door times for air travel and put highways to shame, is a powerful elixir to the crunch of congested highways and airways that represented a failed – or to be more accurate, incomplete - twentieth century vision to satiate America's transport needs. Perhaps this vision, if implemented with undeterred gusto, can renew our perception of travel and convenience while simultaneously reinvigorating our gagged transportation system.

March 16 - Ian Sacs

FEATURE

Accelerating Mass Transit

March 16 - Peter Gertler

BLOG POST

When The Planners Go Marching In

There’s just one problem with academia. Sometimes it can be so … academic. In the interest of getting out into the world, I’m writing this post from Nawlins (nee New Orleans), where 16 other Penn planners and I are spending our weeklong spring break <strike>doffing our tops for beads and booze</strike> doing pro bono city planning work. For most of us, it’s been nothing short of a paradigm shift—and the week ain’t over yet.

March 12 - Jeffrey Barg

BLOG POST

Bike Tunnel To Manhattan: A Proposed Relay Between Advocacy And Consultancy

If you’re working in the transportation industry, you know there are basically two ways to contribute to the amazing shift in perspective going on in our country towards livable streets: Advocacy or Consultancy. On one hand, you can work with a non-profit organization or advocacy group to push the envelope and make a stir. This is the perceived over-the-top approach because the norm is so far away from where things could really be. For example, in a saner world, the Critical Mass bike rides that have long rubbed New York City Police the wrong way would not be necessary because thousands of bicyclists would already be respected and given appropriate space on city streets. But someone has to scream “Wake Up!” On the other hand, you can choose to work “from the inside

March 12 - Ian Sacs

BLOG POST

Viva La Ciclovia!

Livable streets proponents look back on 2008 as the year some of the movement’s best laid plans became mainstream. Bicycle sharing systems launched in both Washington DC and Montreal. Auto-dependent Charlotte saw its LYNX light rail surpass 2025 ridership projections, while Seattle also beat ridership projections on its snazzy new Streetcar. And New York City and Portland continued to reclaim space for less auto-centric uses—witnessing 35% and 25% growth respectively in bicycle mode share.

March 11 - Mike Lydon

BLOG POST

Investing In Affordability For Economic Development

Is a $50,000 annual income wealth or poverty in North America? By historical or international standards such an income should be considered wealthy and luxurious, but most people I know consider it poverty because of the high cost of living.

March 10 - Todd Litman