Exclusives

BLOG POST

<span>Yesterday, as a part of my university’s community outreach efforts, I delivered a lecture at a suburban retirement home on the theme of sustainable cities. I discussed Smart Growth, New Urbanism and the need for greater urban densities, all framed by the current events unfolding in Copenhagen at the <a href="http://en.cop15.dk/">United Nations Climate Change Conference</a>.<span>  </span></span> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span>At the end of my talk, several elderly ladies came up to chat with me and thank me for the lecture. On her way out, one turned to me and said, “You take care of the world for us. We’re not going to be around much longer – it’s up to you young people.”<span>  </span></span> </p>

December 9 - Michael Dudley

BLOG POST

<p>For a myriad of personal and professional reasons I moved to New York City this fall. Part of the reason I uprooted myself from the pastel, sun soaked streets of Miami Beach to the chaos of New York is because Gotham has made such incredible strides in becoming one of America&#39;s most bicycle-friendly cities. </p>

December 9 - Mike Lydon

FEATURE

Jay Walljasper reflects on the glorious urbanism of Rome, and what planners and architects in North America can learn from it.

December 7 - Jay Walljasper

BLOG POST

<p> I am prompted to report on this issue I came across in a <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20091125_ap_papastorseeksokforsonsgraveonchurchland.html">news item</a> last week. A Baptist minister in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, buried his 18-year-old son, who died three days after a car crash on July 12, in the backyard of the pastor’s church. While state law doesn’t prohibit this, some county and local ordinances do, and this county, Fayette County, only allows burials on large parcels zoned for agricultural use. The church has only five acres and is in a residential zone. </p>

December 4 - Dwight Merriam

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> <span> I recently read an article containing a World War II-era poster: “When You Ride Alone You Ride With Hitler.” The authors of the article asked whether governments could use similar powers of persuasion today to discourage energy consumption and thus address climate change. </span> </p>

December 3 - Michael Lewyn

FEATURE

December 3 - Christopher Corbett

BLOG POST

This Saturday, Nate Berg and I will be taking part in <a href="http://www.good.is/post/good-event-la-2-0-refresh-reinvent-re-imagine/">LA 2.0: Refresh, Reinvent, Re-Imagine</a>, an event hosted by <a href="http://www.good.is/">GOOD Magazine</a>, <a href="http://www.sheridanhawkes.com/">Sheridan/Hawkes Collaborative</a> and The Public Studio. <span> </span>The goal is to brainstorm innovative solutions to improve the physical environment of Los Angeles.

December 1 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

The short answer to the question about whether someone needs professional or activist planning experience before graduate school is yes!

December 1 - Ann Forsyth

BLOG POST

<p> Those of us whose professional lives are inextricably linked to the real estate development economy in one way or another have had plenty of time in the last year to twiddle our thumbs and attempt to figure out what the heck happened. This much we know — there was a housing bubble some places, it burst, and the economy collapsed. Have you ever slipped and fell – one those unexpected spectacular aerial feats where your feet fly out from underneath you, you look down your legs and see your toes at eye level pointing to the sky, and you say to yourself “this is really going to hurt when I land”? That’s what this year has been like for many, some of whom are still waiting to hit hard because they had projects in the pipeline and they are grinding their way through “inventory” of unfinished work. Plus, we started from a high plateau. Wall Street types call the unexpected but apparent life in the market during the first part of a recession “<a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/deadcatbounce.asp">dead cat bounce</a>” which Forbes defines as “a temporary recovery from a prolonged decline or bear market, after which the market continues to fall.” Even a dead cat dropped from a very high place will bounce a little when it hits the ground… </p>

November 30 - Dwight Merriam

BLOG POST

<p> New Jersey&#39;s prized gateway communities along Long Beach Island - South Jersey&#39;s extra-special vacation spot better known to the planning community for its prescient example as human habitation threatened by natural erosion in Ian McHarg&#39;s planning tome “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Design-Nature-Wiley-Sustainable/dp/047111460X">Design with Nature</a>” - are facing an entirely man-made threat in the form of ill-conceived plans to effectively double the roadway “capacity” of the one and only bridge connecting this 18 mile barrier island to the mainland.  If NJDOT is left to its own devices, and <a href="http://www.app.com/article/20091117/NEWS/911170348/1070/NEWS02">local community officials rush them along</a>, a proposed new bridge will have the complete opposi

November 30 - Ian Sacs

FEATURE

In the battle against climate change, cities will be even more important than we think, says Michael Mehaffy, managing director of the Sustasis Foundation. Research presented in Copenhagen shows that Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMTs) are only part of the story, and should not be considered in isolation from other factors.

November 30 - Michael Mehaffy

BLOG POST

<p> So, I&#39;m out at a site visit with the city engineer last week and we&#39;re talking about ways to implement curb extensions to reduce pedestrian exposure to vehicular traffic.  We&#39;re discussing inexpensive ways to accomplish this, and then on queue, as is the right and obligation of all civil engineers, the ugly villain subject of all things bumped-out rears its head: drainage. </p>

November 23 - Ian Sacs

FEATURE

Transit saw some big ridership increases over the past few years, but maybe not where you'd expect. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the top ten metropolitan areas where transit use has increased the most.

November 19 - Nate Berg

BLOG POST

<p> This week, I finally got around to looking at the latest (2009) Texas Transportation Institute study on traffic congestion. (1) </p> <p> Two facts struck me as interesting.  First, the great congestion surge of the past decade or two is over.  In most large metropolitan areas, congestion (measured as hours lost to congestion per traveler) peaked around 2005, and actually declined in 2005-07.  For example, in Atlanta, hours lost to congestion peaked at 61, and decreased to 57 by 2007.  Congestion increased in only three of the fourteen largest regions (Washington, Detroit and Houston)- and in each of these by only one hour per traveler. </p>

November 16 - Michael Lewyn

FEATURE

Mike Lydon reports from the CNU Transportation Summit in Portland, Oregon, the country's laboratory of smart growth. "Change is imminent," says Congressman Earl Blumenauer via video.

November 16 - Mike Lydon

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">Much of my work involves developing </span><a href="http://www.vtpi.org/tdm"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">transportation demand management and smart growth policies</span></a><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman"> which improve travel options (walking, cycling, public transit, carsharing, etc.), reform pricing and transport planning to encourage travelers to choose the most efficient mode for each trip, and create more accessible, multi-modal communities.

November 16 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

November 16 - Amber Hawkes

BLOG POST

<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"> Is there a happy medium between the run-down liquor store and the gourmet shop?  </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> What is the best form of Main Street retail, as people move back to the city and re-emergent neighborhoods acquire shops and services that were once lacking?

November 15 - Diana DeRubertis

BLOG POST

<p> During his dramatic presentation <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/04/16/a-vision-for-high-speed-rail/">last April</a>, President Barack Obama laid out a bold vision for high speed rail in America. Wielding a stylish red, white, and blue map (below) he presented the proposed corridors for new high speed trains. (Similar, if not identical, to plans long sitting on the shelf at the Federal Railway Administration.) He asked Americans to &quot;Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 miles an hour, walking only a few steps to public transportation, and ending up just blocks from your destination.&quot; In reality limited funds, our dysfunctional planning processes, and the historical lack of investment in rail will mean the U.S. will most likely end up with a diverse collection of regional rail systems that may not go that fast.

November 13 - Robert Goodspeed

BLOG POST

<p> You don&#39;t know how you get there, but you&#39;re there. And you can&#39;t leave. You&#39;re a prisoner among hundreds of other prisoners, but you&#39;re the only one who knows it. Or at least you think you know it. Are you really still a prisoner if you forget you&#39;re being held against your will? Existentialism aside, what if it&#39;s your environment that&#39;s taking away your sense of individualism? <br /> <br />

November 12 - Nate Berg