PlaceShakers

View from below of row of parked trucks in lot

Carzilla: How Huge SUVs and Trucks Hurt Pedestrians and Walkable Communities

Ever wonder where the supersizing of cars is going to end? Kaid Benfield dives deep into the subject and suggests five actions we can take to get to a safer spot in the road.

May 8, 2023 - PlaceShakers

Canada WInter

Serpentine Maze: Pop-Up Parks in the Pandemic

If the combined effects of winter's cold and the pandemic has you bummed, check out this community-building exercise in the frozen North.

January 20, 2021 - PlaceShakers

Restaurant Business

Announcing an Antidote for Planning Uncertainty: A Pandemic Tool Kit for Local Governments

A new toolkit shares 22 actions governments should take to get the economy restarted, including the regulatory or policy tools needed to implement the actions.

October 20, 2020 - PlaceShakers

A Pirate Looks at . . . Seventy?

Reflections on a long career, a great interview, and six sssentials for greener, healthier communities via Kaid Benfield, one of the founders of Smart Growth America

September 11, 2020 - PlaceShakers

Restaurant Business

Lessons from the Pandemic: Housing, Retail, Broadband

Second in a series of conversations about what comes next in local government policies and processes, this time between Geoff Koski and Ben Brown on housing, retail, and broadband

May 12, 2020 - PlaceShakers

Stay-at-Home Orders

After the Plague: Go Big or Go Backwards?

Among unwelcome lessons of COVID-19 is growing evidence of what was already broken in politics and business. Ben Brown looks at making bold changes in order to improve the lives of the left out and left behind.

May 10, 2020 - PlaceShakers

Shelter in Place

Shelter in Place: Working in a Time of Isolation

Need some work-at-home tips from a veteran? Hazel Borys has eight to consider.

March 25, 2020 - PlaceShakers

Wynyard Quarter

Code Score: A New Aid for Aligning Policy and Vision With Outcomes

A compendium of benefits of walkable urban places, put together by Hazel Borys and Kaid Benfield.

October 2, 2019 - PlaceShakers

Birmingham, Michigan

Code Hackathon: What Can Go Wrong With Form-Based Codes?

Top problems with form-based codes, and how to fix them.

May 16, 2019 - PlaceShakers

A New Path to Code Reform

The Users’ Guide to Code Reform leads planners through the code reform process, providing tools for governments lacking the capacity to develop a full form-based code. Susan Henderson and Matt Lambert hit the high points.

February 6, 2019 - PlaceShakers

Pedestrians

Jeff Speck’s Step-by-Step Guide to Making Better Urban Places

The new Walkable City Rules by Jeff Speck is an excellent book that can help your city become more hospitable to humans. Urban thinker Kaid Benfield reviews.

October 31, 2018 - PlaceShakers

Housing Construction

Affordable Housing Finance: Show Me the Money

Ben Brown continues his weekly blog series in lead-up to the day-long exploration at CNU Savannah, "Affordability: The Intersection of Everything."

May 3, 2018 - PlaceShakers

Climate Change

Climate Change: Making the Most of Failure

Whatever the cause, a smackdown from Mother Nature seems inevitable. But Scott Doyon says that doesn't mean we can't still advance and persevere.

March 30, 2018 - PlaceShakers

Walking

The Sidewalk to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

When the vision's all right but the outcomes are all wrong, zoning's often the problem. And the public realm is left holding the bag.

December 15, 2017 - PlaceShakers

Before I die

Plotting a Persuasive Story? Better Have a Happily Ever After

All stories are purposeful. They’re meant to entertain or inform or inspire to action. If you're a storyteller for a placemaking initiative, Ben Brown says you'd better have a happily ever after.

October 19, 2017 - PlaceShakers

Civic Space: Creating Community

What moves us about great public space is its ability to convene community. To provide an accessible place of solace and celebration. It’s not about the buildings, or even the streets. It’s about the experience. Susan Henderson on Savannah's squares.

October 12, 2017 - PlaceShakers

D.C. Metro Station

CNU Climate Summit Highlights

Growing set of tools measures the impact of urban form on climate. Hazel Borys reviews highlights of the CNU Climate Summit held last weekend near Washington, D.C.

October 4, 2017 - PlaceShakers

Philadelphia

Place Attachment as a Tool for Shaping Change

We fight for what we love. When we’re connected in affection, we’re both more inclined and more empowered to organize.

September 28, 2017 - PlaceShakers

Coffee House

When Coffee Came to London (Not a Starbuck's Story)

Walkability makes markets! Scott Bernstein tells the Lloyds of London story from the urbanist's perspective.

September 21, 2017 - PlaceShakers

A Hurricane Response Lesson: Disrupt the Cycle of Futility

How do we disrupt the cycle of rebuilding things exactly as they were before—if slightly hardened—after increasingly powerful weather events?

September 8, 2017 - PlaceShakers

News from HUD User

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Call for Speakers

Mpact Transit + Community

New Updates on PD&R Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Websites

The best of the Internet—since 2002.

Top Apps

Planning apps for a brave new world.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

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.