Exclusives

BLOG POST

Miami 21's Final Act?

After more than four years of public meetings, new drafts, extensive revisions, debate, and controversy, <a href="http://www.miami21.org/">Miami 21</a> is finally scheduled for its first City Commission reading on August 6th. For all who have, or continue to work patiently and dilligently on the groundbreaking zoning code, this is exciting and relieving news.

August 2 - Mike Lydon

BLOG POST

Moving Cooler Report: Solutions and Criticisms

The new report, <a href="http://www.movingcooler.info/">Moving Cooler: Transportation Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions</a>, written by Cambridge Systematics and sponsored by a variety of organizations, identifies several dozen transportation climate change emission reduction strategies, including improvements to efficient modes (walking, cycling and public transit), pricing reforms and smart growth land use policies.

July 30 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

Visualizing and Analyzing Plans with CityCAD

Planning technology expert Charles A. Donley reviews a new piece of software that combines the worlds of Computer-Aided Design and Geographic Information Systems to help site planners visualize and analyze their plans.

July 30 - Charles A. Donley, AICP

BLOG POST

The Baltimore Red Line: Maximizing Benefits and Minimizing Impact

An account of planning for the Red Line Project in Baltimore.

July 29 - Tamika Camille Gauvin

BLOG POST

Vancouver approves Laneway Housing and "Suites within Suites"

A quick post to note that on Tuesday of last week, Vancouver City Council unanimously approved bylaws to put into place Vancouver's new "suites within suites" housing option, across the City. Also referred to as "lock-off suites", these secondary suites within apartments are meant to represent an opportunity for housing flexibility, with such suites usable as a rental mortgage helper (a “mortgage helper in the sky”, as one article puts it), a separated but related unit for an elderly parent or aging teenager, a unit for a care-giver, or any other relationship an apartment owner might need.

July 29 - Brent Toderian

BLOG POST

RLUIPA Ripeness Rule Reinforced

The concept of ripeness in several realms is elusive. I have never figured out how to properly thump a melon at a grocery store, although I have made a thorough study of it. You might want to<a href="http://aces.nmsu.edu/CES/yard/1998/070698.html"> click here</a>, or <a href="http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2006/08/09/is_a_melon_ripe_for_the_eating_heres_how_to_tell/">here</a>, or <a href="http://www.foodsubs.com/Fruitmel.html">here </a> for some guidance, none of which seems to work when it’s just me in a stare down with a cold, stone faced and silent honeydew. Just yesterday one of my younger children from what we call the “second litter” asked me at dinner how I could tell if a coconut was ripe. I paused, realized that I had no answer, and did what every good parent should do and asked instead why they weren’t eating their salad. Yes, attack and divert. You think melons and coconuts are tough — try ripeness in land use litigation.

July 28 - Dwight Merriam

BLOG POST

A Trillion Dollars, Or Cents Per Day

The current U.S. healthcare reform proposal is often described as costing a trillion dollars. That will make it difficult to pass. However, the same program could legitimately be described as costing residents just cents per day (or, “less than a cup of coffee”), which would enhance its chance of success (a trillion dollars over ten years is $100 billion annually, about $320 annually per capita, or less than $1 per day, which can legitimately be called “cents per day”).

July 27 - Todd Litman

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New Rail Cars On The Right PATH

You probably already know that the largest mass transit system in North America is in New York City. Perhaps you didn’t know that this system is supplemented by a very heavily used sister-system between New York City and New Jersey called the Port Authority Trans-Hudson, or PATH for short. PATH runs two lines through Jersey City, Newark, and Hoboken, carrying tens of thousands of passengers daily. My hometown, Hoboken, is considered one of the most densely populated cities in the country, and a large number of those residents commute via PATH on a daily basis. As the popularity of living in the city has increased, so have the swarms of passengers crowding onto PATH each morning and afternoon in their daily commute between New Jersey and Manhattan. The cars are very old and make for a rickety, sometimes enthralling ride. So it is not with anything but a huge warm welcome that we began to receive <a href="http://www.panynj.gov/path/new-path-cars.html">new rail cars</a> over the past month.

July 27 - Ian Sacs

FEATURE

Simple Solutions and Complex Technology at the World Parking Symposium

July 27 - Andrea Broaddus

BLOG POST

Gridlock Game Great for Geeks, Short on Complete Streets

Move over XBox; step aside Playstation. The height of game-playing action is free and it's online. The <a href="http://www.its.umn.edu/trafficcontrolgame/game/">new game in town</a> is University of Minnesota, Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute's "Gridlock Buster". Test your mettle on the increasing levels of difficulty in processing vehicular traffic through a network of intersections.

July 24 - Ian Sacs

FEATURE

Rethinking the Street Space: Why Street Design Matters

Streets aren't just for driving, and cities are starting to realize it. Amber Hawkes and Georgia Sheridan explain why street design matters and where we are today in terms of designing the "street space."

July 23 - Amber Hawkes

BLOG POST

What Happens When an Irresistible Force Meets an Immovable Object

The unstoppable force paradox is an exercise in logic that seems to come up in the law all too often. There is a Chinese variant. The Chinese word for “paradox” is literally translated as “spear-shield” coming from a story in a Third Century B.C. philosophy book, Han Fiez, about a man selling a sword he claimed could pierce any shield. He also was trying to sell a shield, which he said could resist any sword. He was asked the obvious question and could give no answer. The Washington Supreme Court broke the paradox between a 12-month moratorium during which the City of Woodinville considered sustainable development regulations for its R-1 residential area, and the efforts by the Northshore United Church of Christ (Northshore Church) to host a movable encampment for homeless people on its R-1 property. <a href="http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/805881.opn.pdf">City of Woodinville v. Northshore United Church of Christ (July 16, 2009)</a>.

July 21 - Dwight Merriam

BLOG POST

Census 2010: What's Happening Now and What To Expect

One of the interesting parts of my position at the Boston <a href="http://www.mapc.org/" target="_blank">Metropolitan Area Planning Council</a> over the past year has been working with U.S. Census Bureau surveys and data. Since last September, this work has included preparations to ensure the region is prepared for the 2010 Census. Mandated by the U.S. Constitution to determine political representation, every planner knows the U.S. Census has become the single most important data source for studying American cities. The U.S. Census Bureau produces dozens of surveys, the Census held once every ten years is by far the most important. Many of the other surveys, as well as countless private sector studies and projections, depend on the decennial census numbers.

July 20 - Robert Goodspeed

BLOG POST

A Fable About Sprawl

Once upon a time, there was a city called City. And everyone living in City voted in the same elections and paid taxes to the same government. And then 5 percent of the people decided that they wanted to live in an new neighborhood that was opened up for development by the highways. And they called it Richburb, because they were, if not rich, at least a little richer than many of the people in the city (since even if there wasn’t zoning to keep the poor out, new housing usually costs more than old housing anyhow).

July 20 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

Applying to Graduate School in Planning: Writing a Good Statement of Purpose

Summer is the time to start thinking about graduate school applications typically due in the late fall and early spring. Previous blogs have looked at how to investigate<a href="/node/38163" target="_blank"> if planning is for you</a>, find the <a href="/27243" target="_blank">right</a> program, <a href="/26388" target="_blank">apply</a>, and <a href="/22992" target="_blank">decide</a> which offer to take up. This blog looks in more detail at the statement of purpose or letter of intent, an important part of the application packet. The following tips will help you craft a compelling statement:

July 20 - Ann Forsyth

FEATURE

Prince Charles vs. the Architects

A dust-up between architects and the Prince of Wales over a speech and a £1b development is bringing the age-old battle between traditional and modern architecture to a head. Managing editor Tim Halbur summarizes the news.

July 20 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

Sorting Out Sonia Sotomayor

According to the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/27/AR2009062702476.html?hpid=topnews">Washington Post</a>, 62% of Americans think Sonia Sotomayor should be confirmed for the U.S Supreme Court because she is “about right” ideologically. The question is, how good will she be for municipal attorneys?

July 17 - Dwight Merriam

BLOG POST

Design our industrial future

I <a href="/node/38510">previously lamented</a> the apparent death of industrial use in our cities by the widespread application of terms like “post-industrial” and “rust-belt.” While semantics is an issue, let’s not forget that design matters and, in terms of industrial use, it hasn’t seemed to matter enough in recent years. In times past, industrial use was often a form of pride. Many of the hulking, multi-story industrial buildings in older cities are (still) beautiful additions to our cityscapes. In some cities, those that went vacant have spawned a new form of <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20090301_Eploring_abandoned_industrial_hulks.html?viewAll=y">urban scavenge hunting</a> by those seeking to fuel their appreciation for our industrial past through photography and exploration. Think as well of the <a href="http://vintagraph.com/wpa-posters/health-and-safety-posters/">WPA posters</a>, many of which used stylized industrial themes to promote our “American” identity.

July 16 - Scott Page

FEATURE