Planning Commissioners Journal

Jeffery R. Levine asks if, given the reliance on property taxes, the planning process is truly revenue-blind.

Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, AICP, explains why being able to tell a good story about plans and development is more valuable than any maps or pretty renderings.

Ed McMahon of ULI talks about an article he's writing that will make the argument that billboards and other outdoor advertising deserve to be eliminated.

When an Apple Store wanted to move into the Georgetown neighborhood in D.C., the Design Review Board pushed for a more fitting facade. After a backlash from residents eager for an Apple, the trademark building went in. Is Georgetown better off?

A group of planners and designers recently headed out to audit Petrossian Square in Manhattan, carefully observing how people use the space.

After a lawsuit in New York State, HUD has taken up the stick and is threatening to terminate funding to housing programs if civil rights fair housing regulations are not met.

Dave Stauffer was a planning commissioner in Red Lodge, Montana before taking a job as a city planner. Wayne Senville talks to Dave about making the switch.

Thomas L. Millette looks back at how far GIS has come, and how it has become an essential tool for urban planning.

In a study in Europe using cellphone GPS data, researchers discovered that people rarely leave a six-mile area around where they live. GPS cellphone data is being used for a host of urban planning studies like this.

Laurence Gerckens brings us the ABCs of Planning. Today's letter is H, which stands for historic preservation. Gerckens brings us a brief, easy-to-understand history of the idea.

Tim Tielman, executive director of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo takes a look at the new Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and the terrible lack of "eyes on the street" there.

Elaine Cogan gives these tips for talking about planning issues with senior citizens and getting the most out of them throughout the planning process.

Niles, Michigan has managed to build jobs and add businesses to its Main Street over the past five years. How did they do it? Wayne Senville of the Planning Commissioners Journal stopped by on his tour around the U.S.A.

Hospitals are being built and renovated all across the country -- a trend responding to the aging baby boomer population.

Historian Larry Gerckens outlines the ten successes that have shaped the modern American City -- from sewage systems to integrated transportation.

Creating more direct connections shortens travel time, which effectively brings people closer to their destinations.

The Planning Commissioner's Journal offers free access to an article about the devastating flood that hit theGrand Forks metro area in 1997 and local recovery efforts.

PCJ Editor Wayne Senville offers his opinion on the Bush Administration proposed elimination of Amtrak's budget.

Planning Commissioners Journal focuses on the impact that changes in our society are having on zoning regulation.

The Planning Commissioner's Journal presents one town's experience with developing a sewer ordinance.