The new city hall building in Buena Park, CA, typifies a trend in Orange County to make civic buildings more user-friendly.
"Buena Park's new City Hall typifies a trend in O.C. cities to make facilities easier to use as well as attractive....Offices frequented by residents, such as human resources and the planning counter, are located on the first floor, where patrons can easily find them. Internal departments, such as the city manager's office, are located upstairs. Other Orange County cities are also integrating customer- service-related amenities into the design or revamp of their civic centers." As one architect put it: '"Making City Hall into a clearinghouse for handling business seems to be a strong focus in today's civic-center planning.'"
Thanks to Connie Chung
FULL STORY: User-friendly cities
The Mall Is Dead — Long Live the Mall
The American shopping mall may be closer to its original vision than ever.
The Paradox of American Housing
How the tension between housing as an asset and as an essential good keeps the supply inadequate and costs high.
Report: Las Vegas, Houston Top List of Least Affordable Cities
The report assesses the availability of affordable rental units for low-income households.
Undoing Biden's EV Rule
The partisan divide over how government should reduce greenhouse gas emissions was on full display after the Biden administration finalized its emissions standards rule for light and medium duty vehicles on March 20.
Boston Moves Zoning Reform Forward
The ‘Squares + Streets’ plan creates form-based zoning templates for neighborhoods that promote mixed use and denser housing near transit.
Anchorage Leaders Debate Zoning Reform Plan
Last year, the city produced the fewest new housing units in a decade.
City of Yakima
City of Auburn
Baylands Development Inc.
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.