Community / Economic Development
Advancing Play Equity Through Mobile Recreation
The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation is offering the Park on the Move program to enable more youth in park-poor communities to play and stay active.
Who’s To Blame for Gentrification?
Most likely, no one in particular—but policy changes can alleviate the housing shortage and prevent displacement.
Bay Area Pop-Ups Aim To Activate Vacant Storefronts
As commercial storefronts experience high vacancy rates, cities like Oakland and San Francisco are making concerted efforts to support temporary tenants, public art installations, and small entrepreneurs that can revitalize abandoned spaces.
How Abandoned Properties Can Be Used for Redevelopment
Abandoned properties can be a burden on a community, bringing everything from negative curb appeal to an increase in crime. Using these properties for positive community development can kill two birds with one stone.
The Business Case for Multimodal Transportation Planning
Travel demands are changing and so should planning. There are good reasons for communities to spend less on automobile facilities and more on walking, bicycling, and public transit. Let’s examine why.
A New Life for the Suburban Office Park?
With more and more employers downsizing and moving to areas with more urban amenities, large suburban office parks offer an opportunity for increased density and mixed-use development.
Initiative Brings Capacity Building to Booming Rural Towns
A research and capacity building initiative based at Utah State University seeks to help fast-growing tourist meccas in the West plan for smart growth.
$1 Billion ‘Reconnecting Communities’ Program Accepting Applications to Repair Damage of Racist Transportation Planning
The Biden administration has talked about the need to repair the damages of a racist history of transportation planning in the United States. The time has finally come to put their money where their mouth is.
Obama on the Record Against Sprawl, Inequality by Design
Former President Barack Obama was at the AIA’s national conference in Chicago earlier this month. His presentation included some strong words about the effects of sprawl.
Biden Proposes Gas Tax Holiday to Reduce Gas Prices
President Biden asked Congress on June 22 to suspend federal fuel taxes, unchanged since 1993, for three months to provide motorists 'relief' at the pump. Additionally, he asked states to follow suit and for oil companies to increase refining.
Raleigh Experiencing Dramatic Growth
The North Carolina capital is reinventing itself as a research and tech hub, attracting major employers and investment along the way.
Land Banking to Prevent Transit-Oriented Displacement in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) will implement a new land banking program to mitigate gentrification and displacement around future transit lines.
State of the Cities: Mayors Focused on Infrastructure, Economic Development
Mayors around the country are pledging to bolster infrastructure projects with new federal funding, generate economic growth, and support the most vulnerable residents.
A New Master Plan for the Los Angeles River
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to approved a new master plan for the L.A. River—the “Reimagined River.”
Energy Department Resumes Loan Program with Hydrogen Storage
The Energy Department's loan office, known for a bad loan to the solar panel startup Solyndra in 2011, will loan $504 million to a company that will use renewable energy to create 'green hydrogen' and store it in salt caverns in Utah.
What Is Tactical Urbanism?
Tactical urbanism, one of the most common buzzwords in planning over the past decade, describes a variety of low-cost, incremental public realm design interventions.
Downtown San Francisco Still Looking for a Post-Pandemic Comeback
“Downtown on the Brink” reads the headline of a recent San Francisco Chronicle feature.
Supporting Workers in Suburban Job Centers With Microtransit
The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is partnering with local governments and nonprofits to create new transit options for the thousands of workers flocking to the region’s new job centers.
Twitter for Planners in 2022
Twitter is changing, not in the way Elon Musk wants it to, but it’s still perhaps the most useful social media platform for planners looking for education and engagement.
Funding Urban Climate Justice
The Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund stands out as an example of local grassroots climate action—in this case, the kind of action that makes other climate projects and programs possible.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
