The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A rendering of a high speed rain station in California, with wide platforms and a sleep train with yellow highlights.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal

Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.

1 hour ago - Cal Matters

 A bridge stretches across the Missouri River at Chamberlain, South Dakota.

Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states

Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.

3 hours ago - South Dakota Searchlight

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

4 hours ago - Yale Environment 360

The Eltrym theater, a square building with light red, yellow and blue walls.

BLOG POST

Keeping the theater open

Rustin Thompson's film, "The Last Picture Shows," presents the movie theater as a useful starting point for assessing which elements of urban tradition are worth retaining.

5 hours ago - Charles R. Wolfe

An Ariel view of Ocean Parkway, a busy six-lane highway

This road in NYC is infamously dangerous — and Mamdani can't fix it

New York City's Ocean Parkway is known for reckless driving, but the power to implement safety measures lies with the state rather than the city.

5 hours ago - Gothamist

People walking in Denver next to a red bus.

One of Denver’s busiest corridors to gain BRT

The project will span 18 miles and contain 74 bus rapid transit stations.

October 29 - Transportation Today News


People board an orange bus in Seattle.

275,000 bus trips are at stake on Seattle's ballot

If passed, the Seattle Transit Measure would trigger a 0.3% sales tax and raise an average of $138 million per year to maintain and expand Seattle’s bus services.

October 29 - Seattle Times

A desalination plant in Israel sucking water into pipes.

Texas may pay Israeli company billions to ease water woes

Texas awarded IDE Technologies the contract for its Harbor Island project, which is slated to become the Western Hemisphere's largest desalination plant.

October 29 - Inside Climate News


Cuyahoga County in the fall. Someone crosses a stone bridge over a pong surrounded by trees.

‘One code to rule them all:’ this Ohio county is streamlining all 59 of its zoning codes

Cuyahoga County hopes the unified zoning code will speed up housing development.

October 29 - Smart Cities Dive

A rendering of a mall turned living space. People walk around a green space surrounded by apartments.

FEATURE

Malls are becoming the midtowns of the future

Mall and office park redevelopments are a generational opportunity to create new nodes of urbanity.

October 29 - Ben Schneider

A sign marking construction plans for the East River Esplanade.

Ballooning costs delay NYC green space restoration after six years of planning

“There’s a stark inequity in how the city prioritizes infrastructure projects across different Manhattan neighborhoods," said Maria Kessler, executive director for Friends of the East River Esplanade. “Why is this neighborhood the last and unserved?”

October 29 - City Limits

A rendering of the proposed facility. Trees are made slightly translucent so a large, rectangular cement building can be seen

Feds to more closely scrutinize proposed Amtrak facility’s environmental impact

The Federal Railroad Administration had initially said the facility qualified for a less extensive environmental review.

October 28 - Block Club Chicago

A crowd of people walking down a street in Boston

Boston is hard to build housing in: its chief of planning wants to keep it that way

Chief of Planning Kairos Shen said she would not make changes to Boston’s affordability requirements for new housing, which critics say have slowed down development.

October 28 - Boston Herald

A car drives through a puddle, making a large splash. Rain pours down.

California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour

If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.

October 28 - Grist

A texas bus drives down a multi lane road

With no reauthorization bill in sight, Texas slashes $6.6 billion from transportation budget

An official said the program may receive additional funding when a federal reauthorization bill passes.

October 28 - Midland Reporter-Telegram

People walk off a train in chicago

Chicago’s new transit authority has ‘unprecedented’ land development power

The Northern Illinois Transit Authority is allowed to buy and develop land for reasons unrelated to transit, a power that is fairly unique among transit authorities.

October 28 - Chicago Sun Times

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

FEATURE

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

October 28 - Zachary Whalen

A pig poking its snout between the bars.

Iowa taxpayers are paying thousands to clean manure out of their water

While the Clean Water Act makes states responsible for regulating factory farms that discharge pollutants, Iowa has turned a blind eye to the polluting farms.

October 27 - Inside Climate News

Amtrak officials cut the ribbon at the new Seattle facility.

Amtrak cuts ribbon on Seattle Airo maintenance facility

The $250 million, nearly 100,000-square-foot building can house an entire Cascades Airo trainset.

October 27 - Railway Supply

One of Google's power plants pumping pollution into the air.

To power data centers, Google seeks autonomous control of thousands of homes’ electricity

The tech company has signed a deal to indirectly pay Mid-Atlantic residents to reduce their power demand when the grid is strained.

October 27 - New York Times

A crowd of people around one of Honolulu's automated trains.

From robotaxis to robotrains: LA, DC weigh driverless transit

If approved, the projects will take years to implement and face financial and technical hurdles.

October 27 - The Associated Press

Post News

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.