Policy

Ottawa

Ottawa’s New Transportation Master Plan Sets 20-Year Planning Priorities

Canada’s capital city recently completed the first step toward adopting a new Transportation Master Plan.

May 2, 2023 - City of Ottawa

Row Houses at 48th between Walton and Cedar, West Philadelphia

Hands Off the Houses: Can We Stop Speculative Land Grabs?

From the macro scale to the micro scale, there are many ways in which the housing market playing field is tilted toward financial firms—and many proposals for how to start tilting it back.

September 9, 2022 - Shelterforce Magazine

House key with house-shaped keychain on table

Thousands of Affordable Homes Threatened as 30-Year LIHTC Restrictions Expire

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program has helped create more than 3 million affordable housing units across the country. But if something isn’t done soon, thousands of those homes could be lost forever as affordability periods expire.

April 12, 2022 - Shelterforce Magazine

Weathered stone slabs with the words Juvenile Court Entrance engraved into it.

Minor Defendants: Kids Are Being Named in Evictions

Absurd as it may sound, minor children are sometimes named in eviction filings. If a child’s name makes in onto official court records—especially if those records are public and online—the damage can be irreversible.

November 17, 2021 - Shelterforce Magazine

Race in Public Space

Black in White Space

Elijah Anderson writes that a spate of highly publicized recent incidents has highlighted the frequent racial targeting that blacks face as they live, work, study and otherwise navigate “white spaces.”

May 21, 2018 - Penn IUR Urban Link

Self-Driving Cars

Autonomous Vehicles and Urban Contexts: It's Time to Engage All Stakeholders

At the 2017 Autonomous Vehicle Symposium, a group of experts were asked to predict the effects of autonomous vehicles in two case study communities, and to generate a list of proposed policy actions to prepare for a future of autonomous vehicles.

October 16, 2017 - Nico Larco

Autonomous Vehicle

A New Policy Agenda for Autonomous Vehicles: It's Time to Lead Innovation

A call for planners, policy makers, and the car industry to assertively lead the policy development in anticipation of the coming wave of autonomous vehicle technology.

February 9, 2017 - William Riggs

New Studies Reveal 5 Reasons Policymakers Should Prioritize Local Business in 2016

A raft of recent research finds that small, local businesses are critical to overcoming many of our biggest challenges. This article rounds up the new studies and what they say about why local business should be a focus of planning in 2016.

January 22, 2016 - Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Labor Day Means the End for Many Transportation Sector Jobs

A Brookings Institution reports calls on policy makers to ensure appropriate investments and programs to support workers in the transportation sector.

September 5, 2015 - Brookings

Minneapolis Restaurants Push Back on '70/30' Food-to-Alcohol Rule

All over the country, local craft brews, and the restaurants that serve them, have been drivers of economic development and neighborhood revitalization. But a restrictive law in Minneapolis has prevented the full benefit of the industry.

June 5, 2014 - Minneapolis Post

Examining L.A.'s Dirty Zoning Secrets

To celebrate its 50th post, Jeremy Rosenberg has handed over the reins of his "Laws That Shape L.A." column. The focus of this week's guest feature: the special overlays and site-specific designations that cover 60 percent of the city's geography.

March 27, 2013 - KCET.org

London Looks to Get Its Cycling Revolution Back Into Gear

According to Chris Peck, “Better cycling infrastructure, an enforced road traffic law and a reduction in the space available to motor traffic are all required to get cycling growing again in London.”

December 2, 2012 - The Guardian (UK)

What do Californians Want From Government?

CA Speaker of the Assembly John Pérez discusses the current challenges faced by government in California, drawing particular attention to the struggle for consensus on how the State should support economic development at the local level. (VIDEO)

September 17, 2011 - The Planning Report

Best City Policies of 2010

Alternet runs down a list of the five best policies enacted by cities in 2010.

January 6, 2011 - AlterNet

Planning for a High Turnover

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) begins a two-year tryout of new parking technologies.

September 20, 2010 - New Urban Network

U.S. Infrastructure Funding is a Bit Fuzzy

The newest U.S. stimulus proposal is aimed at improving infrastructure but could go farther, says Jonna McKone from TheCityFix.com.

September 10, 2010 - TheCityFix

Is American Ingenuity Dead When it Comes to Transportation?

Chikodi Chima looks at the innovative ideas coming out of China like the famous road-straddling bus announced earlier this month, and asks, has America lost it's edge?

August 23, 2010 - AltTransport

The Cost of Slow Travel

One of the most widely cited numbers in contemporary transportation media coverage and policy discussions is the cost of congestion estimates that Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) annually produces as part of the Urban Mobility Report series.   The 2009 version of that report (http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/)  shows an estimate of the cost of congestion of $87.4 Billion for the top 439 U.S.

June 4, 2010 - Steven Polzin

Speaking of Clunkers

For serious transportation policy wonks lately every day is like Christmas.  Climate change, bailout, deteriorating infrastructure, reauthorization, aging baby boomers, bailout, stimulus, new administration, economic development, global competition, urban redevelopment, bailout, etc.  One has all they can do to just keep up with all the relevant news and positioning say nothing of understanding it.  In fact, I don’t understand it.   

August 12, 2009 - Steven Polzin

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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.