Community / Economic Development

Georgia

'Atlanta City Design' Book Makes a Plan for Equity

Two of the most prominent planners in Atlanta have released a book to help set an agenda for equity as the city grows in the next two decades.

September 27, 2017 - Next City

Convenience Store

7-Eleven Wants To Become Your Neighborhood Restaurant

The world's largest convenience store moves the frozen burrito out of the way in an attempt at becoming a quick-casual restaurant option.

September 26, 2017 - Modern Cities

The Bronx

What Hip-Hop Can Teach Cities About More Inclusive Planning

Hip-hop artists are vocal about critiques of their neighborhoods, but are planners and architects listening?

September 26, 2017 - GreenBiz

Cupertino

Is the Silicon Valley Past its Peak?

A lack of housing is responsible for an expected decline of the Silicon Valley's economic dominance, according to this opinion piece.

September 25, 2017 - Bloomberg View

Philanthropy Fights Gentrification Around D.C.'s Planned Bridge Park

With lessons from high-profile urban revitalization in place, organizers and philanthropists are working to ensure the 11th Street Bridge Park doesn't push low-income residents out of surrounding neighborhoods.

September 25, 2017 - The Washington Post

High Rises

A Database of Urbanism-Related Research

A new project is intended to forge connections between research and practice in the world of urbanism.

September 25, 2017 - Public Square

Students at a graduation ceremony

Universities See a Real Estate Upside in Merging with Smaller Schools

Larger universities, like Boston University, have begun swallowing up smaller schools that offer new students and a goldmine of real estate in dense urban areas.

September 24, 2017 - The Boston Globe

Corner Store

Bodegas Are Vital to Urban Neighborhoods

Bodegas play an essential role in the communities they serve. Under threat by online retail and encroaching chain stores, they face a new danger from technology. New York YIMBY gives them a well-deserved shout-out.

September 24, 2017 - New York YIMBY

Street Art

Sunday Fun: Street Art Tours of the World

Street art tours offer colorful glimpses of global cities.

September 24, 2017 - The Dallas Morning News

Savannah

Hurricane Dreams

A series of thoughts about walking, biking, and community after Hurricane Irma.

September 23, 2017 - Walking the Walk

Bike Center to Salvage Abandoned Building on Closed Military Base—Not So Fast

The bicycle community in San Diego came up with a win-win-win: an innovative bike center in an abandoned building on a closed military base next to downtown and a major biking route. Then came the real world of unreal bureaucratic concerns.

September 23, 2017 - UrbDeZine

Wilderness Trails

No Dogs Allowed at One Colorado State Park

A state park in the Colorado Springs area tried allowing dogs on trails over the summer, but too many people complained about the impact of the canines on the wilderness experience.

September 22, 2017 - The Denver Post

Avenida Revolucion

The New Tijuana: Not Your Parents' Tacky Tourist Day Trip Anymore

On a recent tour of Tijuana for young land use professionals, San Diego architect Marin Gertler found a city that used the drought of U.S. tourism in the last decade to redefine and refine its urban core.

September 22, 2017 - UrbDeZine

Homeless Encampment

Organization Sets Up Tents to Shelter Homeless in Detroit

A civil rights organization has taken direct action to provide support for homeless people living in Detroit.

September 21, 2017 - Associated Press via Detroit Free Press

Salesforce Tower and 181 Fremont

Facebook to Expand in San Francisco

While everyone's attention in recent weeks has been on Amazon, another huge tech company has made a big bet on San Francisco.

September 21, 2017 - San Francisco Business Times

Street Musician

Buskers Welcome at Select Sound Transit Stations

A popular program to allow street performers (aka, buskers) into station areas on the Seattle region's Sound Transit system has been expanded.

September 21, 2017 - The Urbanist

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

East Harlem

Mapping Displacement Stories

The Regional Plan Association calls on the power of the contemporary Internet to broadcast stories of displacement from around Greater New York.

September 21, 2017 - Regional Plan Association

Hurricane Harvey Flooding

A Hurricane's Impact on Houston Commercial Real Estate

Houston's commercial real estate market, including some 72,000 apartment units, has been severely impacted b Hurricane Harvey.

September 20, 2017 - Modern Cities

Amazon's Second HQ Poised for Smart Growth

Amazon's second headquarters is huge, and their bias for walkable places says they are going to do it all over again in a new city. However, maybe they should take the high road and not beg for subsidies.

September 19, 2017 - Smart Growth America

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Transportation Planner I

KFH Group Inc.

Director, Strategy and Research

Greater Baltimore Committee

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.