Exclusives

BLOG POST

The More Things Change...

Community Development Work Avoidance Local government across the nation is knee deep in the work of figuring how to do with less. No community is immune from the challenges posed by reduced sales and property tax revenue and the constant if not increasing demand for services. Invariably, and appropriately, locating the proper balance between the two becomes a matter of setting priorities. And to do that, criteria are needed to rationalize why one municipal activity should be funded, but not another. It was ever thus, of course.

February 26 - Charles Buki

BLOG POST

The New Urbanist Omelette

On this week's <a href="http://www.kunstlercast.com/">KunstlerCast</a> (James Howard Kunstler's podcast, with host Duncan Crary), you can hear me leaving a comment. I just listened to the episode, and I sound like I took a shot of codeine cough syrup before recording it. I think the point is relevant enough to reiterate in the safety of print.

February 26 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

One Way To Save Transit

In much of the United States, day-to-day transit service is under assault as never before; state and local treasuries have been depleted by the recession, and the federal stimulus package is unlikely to be helpful because federal dollars are more likely to flow into capital programs (English translation: shiny new railcars) than into preserving existing service (1). Thus, Americans will have the worst of both worlds: billions thrown at transportation while existing bus routes get whittled away.

February 25 - Michael Lewyn

FEATURE

Top 8 Public Space Design Books

Managing Editor Tim Halbur selects his favorite books for designing and planning public spaces.

February 23 - Tim Halbur

FEATURE

Why Is Fare-Free Transit The Exception Rather Than The Rule?

February 23 - Dave Olsen

BLOG POST

“Who Am I?” And Other Very Practical Questions

From the first day of the semester, I could tell my Urban Design Methods course was going to be different from the others I've taken in planning school so far. “Call me at home. I’m up till midnight,” the professor told us. I’m not up till midnight. He asks us questions like, “What is your design identity?” “What three adjectives describe you as a designer?” “Who are you?” It makes grad school feel kind of like therapy. Really, really expensive therapy.

February 22 - Jeffrey Barg

BLOG POST

Walkability and the City Beauty Quotient

There's no shortage of writing and conjecture on New York City when it comes to urban and city issues. But one subject that has been neglected in the urban academic discourse is the city's incredible concentration of beautiful women. It's amazing. It's like you can't avoid them, not that you'd want to. Walking down the street in New York City is like walking down a fashion runway. With cross traffic. And no security guards trying to tackle you.

February 22 - Nate Berg

BLOG POST

Who Watches the Planners?

In her 1998 book <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Towards-Cosmopolis-Planning-Multicultural-Cities/dp/0471971987/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235094976&sr=1-1">Towards Cosmopolis</a>, Leonie Sandercock deconstructs what she calls the “heroic” story of planning history as found in leading texts. These mainstream histories, she says, may champion various (male) heroes such as Ebenezer Howard, Patrick Geddes or Daniel Burnham, but the real hero, she observes, is the planning profession itself.

February 20 - Michael Dudley

BLOG POST

Laneway Housing Getting Lots of Attention

Since Vancouver Council unanimously supported the preparation of bylaws to introduce <a href="/node/35805" target="_blank">laneway housing across the City</a> in single family zones, the housing idea has been getting consistent media attention. Although we're in the process of using modeling and dialogue to answer the last few questions - what the parking standard should be, and the exact dimensions of the 1 1/2 story model - the most common question I get is "when can we apply for one?"

February 18 - Brent Toderian

FEATURE

The MTA As Stealth Development Agency

The 'Subway to the Sea' project in Los Angeles isn't just about transportation- it also opens up a world of development opportunity, say architects Ernesto Vasquez, AIA and Jeff Mayer, AIA of MVE & Partners.

February 18 - Jeff Mayer

BLOG POST

Look South!

A week ago I spent some time with Enrique Peñalosa, urban strategist and provocateur. North Americans don’t often look south for innovation, but Peñalosa made remarkable changes in the public environment as Mayor of the city of Bogotá, Colombia. Nearly impeached for his actions to push cars aside in favor of people, now he is invited to provoke and inspire others. “We have Environmental Impact Statements; why don’t we have Human Impact statements,” is a sampling from last week.

February 17 - Barbara Knecht

FEATURE

Improving On The Ambiguity of Privately Owned Public Spaces

February 12 - Nate Berg

BLOG POST

Two bad words

Often, participants in public debates use words to mean things very different from their common-sense meanings, in order to manipulate the public’s emotions. Two examples in the field of urban planning come to mind.

February 9 - Michael Lewyn

FEATURE

Can Retail Be Reinvented?

February 9 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

Ninth Ward, The Movie: How To Really Rebuild New Orleans

New Orleans is still struggling, especially its hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward. The economic recession has been bad news for development all over the world, and it's really not helping things down in New Orleans. The federal government's broke, states are cutting costs, and local government is practically bankrupt. But even in tough times, there is one place where business always seems to be good and money's always flowing: the movie industry. Maybe New Orleans should look to Hollywood as a means to recovery. It has the money, it has the incentive, and it's proven that it actually has the power to make it happen.

February 8 - Nate Berg

BLOG POST

Voices In The (Urban) Wilderness

Anyone who has picked up a greeting card, coffee mug, or calendar in the past 100 years or so can recognize the sentiments of any number of great American environmentalists: Whitman and his yawp, Thoreau and his deliberateness, Frost and his serene decisiveness. We know the exhortations of Carson, Leopold, Emerson, and Abbey. John Muir, John McPhee, and Barry Lopez are known to have taken a few strolls through the chestnuts.

February 4 - Josh Stephens

BLOG POST

Smarter Transportation Economic Stimulation

We have just published a new report, "<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/econ_stim.pdf">Smart Transportation Economic Stimulation: Infrastructure Investments That Support Strategic Planning Objectives Provide True Economic Development</a>" which discusses factors to consider when evaluating transportation economic stimulation strategies.

February 3 - Todd Litman

BLOG POST

All Hail Paterson (and other overlooked mid-size cities)

Paterson? Yeah <a href="http://www.patersonhistory.com/">Paterson</a>, the City 13 miles to the west of NYC. Birthplace of American industry, the “Silk City” founded by Alexander Hamilton and designed by Washington DC’s master planner Pierre Charles L’Enfant. Besides textiles, Paterson was home to the first repeating revolver, first submarine and the Rogers Locomotive Works that, at one time, manufactured 80% of the Country’s locomotives. Paterson is also home to the second largest waterfall in the northern hemisphere (Niagra Falls taking top honors of course) and a collection of foreign born residents so lar

February 2 - Scott Page

FEATURE

Towards 'Dynamic' Zoning

Don Elliott, author of A Better Way to Zone, argues that dynamic zoning regulations can help cities grow appropriately and avoid bottlenecks to good development.

February 2 - Don Elliott

BLOG POST

Plugging into Planning: Baltimore and New Orleans

I am enjoying the last day of my Independent Activities Period (IAP) – the period after winter break in which all students at MIT can take one of many non-credit or for-credit course offerings at MIT, set up a winter externship, or just do nothing. This amounts to six weeks of bliss!

February 1 - Tamika Camille Gauvin