San Francisco urban design critic John King has a new book out looking at how the built environment influences culture, and how the culture influenced the buildings in return.
John King says that his book, Cityscape: San Francisco and its Buildings, is a very local look at the built environment of the city, but that he uses the buildings as a lens for looking at how cities are shaped.
Adam Rogers of WIRED interviewed King:
"The kind of person who wants a city like San Francisco and that kind of life is very different than the person who wants a Los Angeles kind of life," says King. "Not to say one is better or worse, but it's just different. And its fascinating that more and more, as you see generations of this goes on, it reinforces and even creates the character. So that a place like San Francisco becomes more progressive, because that type of person is heading there."
Rogers responds, "And those people over generations are the ones who then determine either through they say to a zoning committee, or what kind of architecture they themselves do, or what they ask for from their city, what buildings get built."
FULL STORY: Storyboard: Cityscapes Shows How Buildings Shape Culture

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

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie