Exclusives
BLOG POST
Helping is Hurting
<p> Protecting the poor and protecting the environment are two areas we haven’t quite figured out yet. Put them together, and we’re really up a creek. And we are, because these two silos are actually linked very closely. The relationship between poverty and environmental degradation is incredibly complex, but you wouldn’t guess it by looking at some recent policies gathering support out there in the world. Solutions, it would seem, are incredibly simple. But most of these ideas, though well-intentioned, address only one side of the poverty-environment relationship -- and really hurt the other. </p>
FEATURE
TOD Q&A With John Renne and Jeff Wood
Transit oriented development experts John Renne, PhD, and Jeff Wood recently fielded questions from Planetizen readers about TOD, its current applications and its future.
BLOG POST
Travel and Cars – Fun with Numbers for 2008
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><span style="font-size: small">Transportation and its relationship to the economy have been headline media topics for most of 2008 as we have seen unprecedented swings in fuel prices and travelers responding with declines in vehicle miles of travel (VMT) and unprecedented slowing in new vehicle sales. Transit and Amtrak have seen noticeable ridership growth and there have been cutbacks in demand for and supply of airline capacity. What is increasingly looking like an historic recession combined with a plummeting of gas prices late in 2008 has confounded the diagnosis of energy price impacts on travel. </span></span> </p>
FEATURE
Down on the Corner
Solutions to our global ills can be found in your local neighborhood, says Jay Walljasper. Great examples can be found in communities from South Bend, Indiana to Mississauga, Ontario.
BLOG POST
A Semester in Review, New Year Resolutions, Building Blocks and Toy Cars
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in"> In the dawn of the New Year, I cannot help but reflect on my pivotal moments in 2008, and look forward to 2009. I wrapped up – no, survived – my first semester in the Master of City Planning program at MIT. I am being a little dramatic here, but the program is really very rigorous. One thing I learned was that with such a rigorous program there is no need to make it unnecessarily more challenging. When I arrived in Cambridge, I was very excited to be in school again – I graduated from college ten years ago – and I registered for five and a half classes. Three and a half of the classes were required and two were electives. It was recommended that we take only one elective, but I was psyched and I was going to take MIT by storm!
FEATURE
Top Planning Issues Of 2008
BLOG POST
Sweet Spot Density for Livable Neighborhoods
<p> Single-family detached homes typically epitomize sprawl, while 4 or 5 story apartment buildings now seem to be the utopian ideal for livable neighborhoods. But some of the most livable and walkable neighborhoods I know are largely comprised of single family homes. </p>
FEATURE
Pain at the Pump, Suburban Blues and the Resurgence of Compact Growth
A paradigm shift is occurring in the development patterns of American cities -- even the inner cities that have struggled for decades with decay and abandonment, writes Kofi Sefa-Boakye of the Compton Community Redevelopment Agency.
BLOG POST
A few feet
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman">Because of President-elect Obama’s plans to spend billions of dollars on infrastructure, some recent discussion of smart growth has focused on proposals for huge projects, such as rebuilding America’s rail network.</span> </p> <p class="EC_MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman">But walkability often depends on much smaller steps, steps that require changes in tiny increments of space.</span> </p>
BLOG POST
Is Your Planning Department Passionate?
<p> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'">As we move into a 2009 full of staggering urban challenges - economic, environmental, social, and leadership challenges - do our planning departments have the passion, creativity and leadership to be what our cities need them to be?</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span> </p>
FEATURE
The Social In Security
The recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai are inspiring calls for heightened security and a less open society. Himanshu Burte argues that this is the wrong approach, and that throwing up boundaries would be a mistake.
BLOG POST
Becoming a Calvinist: First Semester Wrap-Up
<p> Four months, thousands of pages and $60 worth of printing later, my first semester of planning school is over. </p> <p> Really? That’s it? </p> <p> Not that I was understimulated. Plenty of big assignments kept me up later than my girlfriend would’ve liked. But in the working world, four months isn’t that long—it’s a big project, a new initiative. In grad school, apparently, it’s reason enough to take a month off. </p> <p> So without any further ado, a few highlights and lowlights from the first semester. Not too many lowlights, though. A few of my professors read this blog. </p>
BLOG POST
More versus Different
<p>In the last six months I have been fortunate to work in a variety of communities - from rural counties in Pennsylvania and Virginia, to small towns and cities in New Mexico and New York, to larger cities in Alaska, Connecticut, and Virginia. Each place has suddenly been confronted with the advent of new dollars. New money at any point in time is a valuable, and especially scarce resource. But in this economy this is even more the case. As communities are faced with reduced sales and property taxes, and consistent demand for services, any new funds are a welcomed addition to the work of balancing the books.</p>
BLOG POST
Skills in Planning: Writing Literature Reviews
<p> <span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman">Terrorized by the literature is the title of a chapter of Howard Becker’s excellent book, <em>Writing for Social Scientists</em> (1986, Chicago). Whether through terror or misunderstanding, the literature review is one of the areas that students in planning find most confusing. While I have dealt with the literature review briefly in my blog on writing <a href="/node/29949" target="_blank">proposals</a>, the tips below provide more detailed advice on how to compose a literature review and how to find important literature in the age of information overload.</span></span><em><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman"> </span></em> </p>
BLOG POST
What A Difference A Year Makes
In late 2007, it was with increasing frustration that I penned and op-ed entitled "Make Miami a Bicycle-Friendly City." Appearing in the December 13th edition of the Miami Herald, the article implored City officials to make the city more amenable to bicycling (It was no surprise in the spring of 2008 when Bicycling Magazine named Miami <a href="http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-2-18-17082-1,00.html">one of the three worst cities in America in which to bicycle</a>). <br /> <p class="MsoNormal"> The City's response exceeded all of my expectations. </p>
BLOG POST
Be Afraid of "Real Nice"
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small"><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: Garamond">You have heard it, or seen it, before.<span> </span>A developer comes in for a presubmittal meeting, and he is <em>excited</em>. He has the best project your city has <em>ever</em></span><span style="font-family: Garamond"> seen, and, when all is said and done, he insists that the city will never be the same.<span> </span>And he’s right.<span> </span>
BLOG POST
Making Urban Planning Fun, For Kids (and Everyone)
When Chris Steins approached me with his idea to write a kids book about urban planning, I was a little skeptical. We had gotten a hold of a book from 1952 called <em>Neighbor flap foot. The City Planning Frog</em>, by Bill Ewald, Jr. and Merle Henrickson, and to be generous, it wasn’t fit for a modern audience. Here’s a sample: <br /> <br /> <blockquote> “Did you know that there is a special rule from City Hall to make sure each house has plenty of light and air, Mickey?” the wise frog asked. <br /> “No, I haven’t heard about that.”<br /> “Well, there is. Blue Nose told me about it,” answered Flap Foot, hopping about to limber up his stiffened legs. “It’s is called <em>zoning.</em> It is a good rule, like brushing your teeth, only this rule is for people who build buildings.”<br /> </blockquote>
FEATURE
Education Suffers in NY Projects
BLOG POST
The Lesser Evil
<p> Due to the collapse of local tax revenues caused by the national economic downturn, many transit systems may face shortages of money over the next year or two. Assuming this is the case, transit providers will have to either raise fares or reduce services by eliminating bus routes or otherwise reducing transit service. </p> <p> It seems to me that raising fares is generally the lesser evil, both from the standpoint of an individual rider and from the standpoint of the transit agency itself. </p>
BLOG POST
The Studio: University-Community Partnerships in Microsize
<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> <p class="MsoNormal"> I had the pleasure of attending two studio final presentations at the Georgia Tech planning program this month: the Lindbergh/Lavista Community studio and the Friendship Village studio. I'm hardly a neutral observer: I chair the program; but I'm new here and really didn't know what to expect. I came away refreshed at the insights of the students and enthused at way the university partners with communities to advance good planning.
Pagination
City of Yakima
City of Auburn
Baylands Development Inc.
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.