Exclusives

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> An important current policy debate concerns whether the next U.S. federal surface transportation reauthorization should require spending on “enhancements,” which finance projects such as walkways, bike paths, highway landscaping and historic preservation. This issue receives considerable attention, despite the fact that enhancements represent less than 2% of total federal surface transportation expenditures, because it raises questions about future transport priorities, particularly the role of walking and cycling. In other words, should non-motorized modes be considered <em>real</em> transportation. </p>

November 16 - Todd Litman

BLOG POST

<p> Last summer, most of the nation was justifiably outraged when<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/25/raquel-nelson-this-will-never-end_n_908448.html"> Raquel Nelson was convicted of vehicular homicide</a> because her four-year old son stepped off a median into <a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/pedestrian-convicted-of-vehicular-1014879.html">oncoming traffic and was killed</a>. Common sense alone should have kept this case from going to trial, but I believe this case should have raised a bigger and more encompassing issue for planners and a question of social ethics: What is the responsibility we take as individuals for the choices we make living in an urban environment? </p>

November 16 - Samuel Staley

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> The PAB is proposing a substantial revision of the standards and criteria for accreditation of university planning programs.  A public comment period on the proposal has just opened and lasts through 15 December.  Here&#39;s what PAB says about the changes: </p> <p> &quot;PAB is pleased to introduce a comprehensive revision of its accreditation standards and criteria. <strong>The goals of the change process include:</strong> </p>

November 15 - Bruce Stiftel

BLOG POST

<p> <span style="color: #2a2a2a"><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman">After reading an article on the misuse of CEQA in California,* I took a short look at New York law.<span>  </span>In New York, city planners must prepare an environmental assessment when property is rezoned, and must prepare a more detailed environmental impact statement (EIS) if property has a significant effect on the environment. </span></span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small"> </span></span> </p>

November 14 - Michael Lewyn

FEATURE

Long known as a land of sprawl and disconnected communities, Los Angeles has emerged as a leader in transit investments, providing forward-thinking leadership for how infrastructure finance can and should continue, even in difficult financial times, writes Allison Brooks and Darnell Chadwick Grisby of Reconnecting America.

November 14 - Allison Brooks

BLOG POST

If you can make it past rhetoric around healthcare, abortion, collective bargaining, and immigration, the November 8th election results tell a more cohesive and calming story about American’s political sentiment.

November 9 - Jess Zimbabwe

BLOG POST

<p> Shannon McElvaney at ESRI is working on a book on GeoDesign -- a growing movement of academics, community planning and development practitioners, ecosystem managers, and geospatial tool developers interested in the nexus between geography, design, planning, ecosystem management and community decision making.  Shannon asked PlaceMatters to contribute to the book, asking us a series of questions.  In the process of answering the first question &quot;What does GeoDesign mean to you?&quot; i fell in love with the combination of the two words and how they truely captured the range of interests engaging in the GeoDesign conversation. </p> <p> Here were a couple of my thoughts: </p>

November 9 - Ken Snyder

FEATURE

November 7 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

<p> In August, I moved into a high density apartment complex just 1.5 miles from my office and a five minute walk to a bus stop. One of the central advantages of the building&#39;s location was its access to alternative transportation modes. While I could park my car for &quot;free&quot; (the real cost is built into the lease), I was interested in keeping it parked as much as possible. Now, after nearly three months of experimentation, I&#39;m ready to give up the bus, and the reasons are central to understanding the future of transit in the US. </p>

November 2 - Samuel Staley

BLOG POST

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November 1 - Barbara Knecht

FEATURE

The results of our crowdsourcing project, in collaboration with the Project for Public Spaces, reveal not an objective Top 100 but instead a handful of communities passionate about their own local public spaces.

October 27 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

<p style="margin-top: 6pt" class="MsoPlainText"> <span>Let me tell you a scary story that you can use to frighten fellow planners at next week’s Halloween party. It’s not just fun and games – this story is true and may cause nightmares.</span> </p>

October 27 - Todd Litman

BLOG POST

October 26 - Ki Kim

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> With the proliferation of new media planning practitioners have new ways to find out about the continuing work of planning faculty members who have retired. Not all of them blog of course, but the list below demonstrates some of the variety of these efforts. </p>

October 24 - Ann Forsyth

BLOG POST

<p> Before moving to New York, I&#39;d viewed street design through a fairly simple lens: narrow streets good, wide streets bad.  By and large, I still hold this view.  But after living here for a few months, I have learned that not all wide streets are equally bad.   The wide roads of the South are generally terrible, but New York has made some of its wide streets a bit more pedestrian-friendly.  To see why, go to <a href="http://maps.google.com/help/maps/streetview/learn/using-street-view.html">Google Street View</a> and examine three addresses: 5019 U.S. 23 in Chamblee, Georgia, 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn&#39;s Crown Heights neighborhood, and 107-43 Queens Boulevard in my current Queens neighborhood of Forest Hills. </p>

October 24 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> As readers of this blog will know I encourage people to find out about planning programs in multiple ways. Reading the work of faculty is a crucial first step as is reading the program’s web site. Visiting open houses or connecting with students (programs often set up some kind of chat space around admission time) are also options. Increasingly schools are using multiple forms of social media to reach current students and alums providing a useful window onto the programs for prospective students. This list highlights a few of these sources used specifically by planning programs.

October 22 - Ann Forsyth

BLOG POST

<p> <span><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS">One of the bedrocks of the Vancouver city-building story, which we often refer to as &quot;the most important decision Vancouver ever made&quot;, was the dramatic rejection of inner city freeways in the late 60&#39;s/early 70&#39;s.<span>  </span>This left our city frequently referenced as the only major North America city without a freeway. That decision led us down the very different and counter-intuitive path for livability, mobility, inner city density and urbanism that has come to be referred to as &quot;the Vancouver Model&quot;.</span></span></span> </p>

October 21 - Brent Toderian

BLOG POST

<div> <br /> </div> <div> I am writing this missive from the living room of a Starbucks. Not that you&#39;d care where I&#39;m writing from. Except this time it&#39;s relevant.  </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> Here on Montana Avenue, in Santa Monica, I&#39;m joined by other folks who are also on their laptops, recovering from yoga, or just biding their time. The guy sitting at my table just sold a pilot to Fox. That&#39;s nice for him. A few weeks ago I sat next to Hillary Swank here. She&#39;s not hurting either.   </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> But others aren&#39;t so lucky. To its credit, Starbucks seems to want to do something about it. </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div>

October 18 - Josh Stephens

FEATURE

Despite its cold weather and spread-out development patterns, a Midwestern city beat Portland, San Francisco and Boulder for the title of #1 Bike City. Jay Walljasper explains how.

October 17 - Jay Walljasper

BLOG POST

The terms Central city, Inner city and urban have long been synonymous with the poorer, disadvantaged minority sections of metropolitan areas. Conversely, the suburbs have been associated with whites, affluence and job growth. For a long time, however, this dichotomy has failed to capture the gradual blurring of distinctive patterns that demarcate city from suburb. A recent <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2011/1011_housing_suburbs_covington_freeman_stoll.aspx">Brookings report</a> by Kenya Covington, Michael Stoll and yours truly underscores this point. The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, the single largest affordable housing program in the country is almost as prevalent in the suburbs as in central cities.

October 13 - Lance Freeman