Exclusives
BLOG POST
Master's Planning: How to Pick an Industry That’s Growing, Not Shrinking
<p> Just after 2008 began, I realized my profession of choice was dying. </p> <p> I’d spent the previous seven years at <a href="http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com" target="_blank"><em>Philadelphia Weekly</em></a>, a fairly typical alternative newspaper: you know, magazine-style lefty bent, where-to-go-and-what-to-do listings, porn ads in the back. The usual. </p>
BLOG POST
Last Days of a Way of Life
<p> This summer I cycled through beautiful countryside, saw impressive ruins, visited old churches, travelled through small towns and met friendly people. I also saw communities, deprived of their purpose, coping with decline. I may have even seen the last days of a way of life. (See for youself, in this issue of <a href="http://www.pricetags.ca/pricetags/pricetags105.pdf" title="Price Tags 105">Price Tags</a>.) </p> <p> This was Upstate New York State, along the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany – an experience that rivaled any bike tour I could have taken in Europe. For it was there that I saw one of the wonders of the world. </p> <p> The Erie Canal was certainly that. </p>
FEATURE
The Social Functions of NIMBYism
Assessing NIMBYism: not just its agonies but also its value in democratizing land use planning decisions, and concluding with constructive advice on how to make the most of this painful but inescapable feature of the development landscape.
BLOG POST
'Reality's' Reveal
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">With the Olympics nicely coinciding with my vacation, I think I’ve watched more coverage of the games than the average human should.<span> </span>Prior to the start of the games, I followed with interest the story of how Beijing was re-fashioning itself to host the games.<span> </span>Much has been written on this subject from the loss of the city’s “<a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2196883/">hutongs</a>” to the “<a href="http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2008/08/behind-beijings.html">distorted</a>” messages conveyed by the starchitecture.<span> </span>Some have referred to Beijing as a “Houston on steroids.”<span> </span></span></span>
BLOG POST
Infographics For The Rest Of Us
<p> <img src="/files/u2/20080820-sparkline-example.png" alt=" " title=" " hspace="20" vspace="20" width="291" height="29" align="right" /> </p> <p> An introduction to free tools for creating interactive information graphics. </p> <p> As professionals shaping the built and natural environment, we have to process and communicate complicated concepts and data to peers and the public. We often use visuals such as maps, charts, graphs, and diagrams to illustrate a concept or explore data. Such visual representations are called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_graphics">information graphics</a> or <span style="font-style: italic">infographics</span>. </p>
BLOG POST
Rewiring America's 'Energy Crisis'
<p class="MsoNormal"> In a much discussed speech, ‘<a href="http://www.wecansolveit.org/pages/al_gore_a_generational_challenge_to_repower_america/">A Generational Challenge to Repower America</a>,’ Al Gore challenged America to hit the off-switch on foreign oil and re-power itself with home-grown carbon-free energy– namely wind, solar and geothermal. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The predicted outcome Gore said would be a bold, energy independent nation ready to lead the world into the 21<sup>st</sup> century. However, such an effort, he asserted, would require “commitment to changing not just light bulbs, but laws. And Laws will only change with leadership.” <span> </span><span> </span> </p>
BLOG POST
Walkable Neighborhood Grocers
<p> </p> <p> Costco may be <a href="http://www.nysun.com/new-york/costco-eyes-a-manhattan-site-but-draws-political/82797/" target="_blank">coming to Manhattan</a>, bringing 2300 parking spaces with it.
BLOG POST
Crime and urban design: Oscar Newman 36 years later
<p> I recently read Oscar Newman’s 1970s book on crime prevention, “Defensible Space.” In this book, Newman addressed the question of why some public housing projects are insanely dangerous, and others only moderately so. Although Newman’s analysis is mostly confined to low-income housing, commentators of all stripes have relied on his work: new urbanist commentator Laurence Aurbach asserts that Newman’s work supports new urbanists’ emphasis on heavily trafficked, walkable streets (1) while Randall O’Toole considers Newman to be a defender of single-use, cul-de-sac sprawl (2). <br />
BLOG POST
The Great American Fallacy Machine
<p>When it comes to urban policy issues such as public transit andsmart growth, self-identified "Conservatives" and Libertarians have turned"straw man" argumentation into an art form. Many of their positions are sotransparently fallacious that I feel compelled to take them down, (asI've done in previous Planetizen op-eds [<a href="/node/25437">here </a>and <a href="/node/24107">here</a>])by systematically identifying their fallacies and documenting their misleading use of data sources. </p><p>It's easy and it's fun! </p>
BLOG POST
Lamest Land Use of the Week
<p> Pizza is delicious. Crop circles are cool. But what happens when you put them together? </p>
BLOG POST
One way to protect bus riders
<p> As gas prices keep rising, the public demand for buses and trains keeps growing. Yet in some cities, government is actually cutting back transit service, because rising gas prices make transit vehicles more expensive to operate.(1) But as a matter of substantive policy, service reductions are not only less desirable than service increases, but also less desirable than fare increases. As a bus rider, I’d rather pay $1.50 and know that my service is safe from fiscal crises than pay $1 and worry that my service might be reduced or canceled next month. Moreover, if fairness means spreading pain equally throughout the population, it is fairer to have everyone pay a little more than to have some neighborhoods be left without service. </p>
FEATURE
'Place First' Parking Plans
Wes Marshall and Norman Garrick illustrate the problem with parking plans today, and how to fix them.
BLOG POST
Reforming the Nation's Transportation Agenda
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td class="content" valign="top" bgcolor="#f1f1f1"><span style="font-family: Arial"> <div> <span style="font-family: Arial"><span style="font-family: Arial"> <div> <p> <span style="font-size: x-small">For over a year now, calls have multiplied to give the surface transportation program a new sense of direction. With near unanimity, the transportation community, along with most congressional lawmakers and state and local officials, have concluded that the current program has lost its focus and lacks a clear mission and a guiding purpose. A bipartisan consensus has developed that perpetuating the status quo is not the answer.
BLOG POST
Images for Planning: Free Internet Resources
<p class="MsoNormal"> Visual communication is becoming more sophisticated in planning, however many online image sources are restricted and require payment for use. Others, such as flikr.com and Google Images are extremely useful but have uneven quality and information provided about the images can be difficult to assess. While flckr.com and Google Images will remain a key resource, a number of other online image databases provide more consistent metadata along with free access. </p>
BLOG POST
'Expose, Propose & Politicize': The Planners Network Conference, Winnipeg, July 17th – 19th, 2008
<p> <span> <!--[endif]--></span><span>As a grassroots North American organization for “people involved in planning,” <a href="http://www.plannersnetwork.org/">Planners Network</a> (PN) attracts not just professionals and academics but laypersons and activists as well. This year’s PN conference was a dramatic debut for the <a href="http://www.pnmb.org/">Winnipeg chapter of PN</a>, which was only formed in January of 2006. The conference title, “Flat not Boring” was an amusing reference to southern Manitoba’s notoriously unvarying geography.
FEATURE
Columnist Neal Peirce Discusses the Past and Future of the Metropolis
Planetizen talks with journalist and syndicated columnist Neal Peirce about the trends he's seen over the course of his career and the future of America's metropolitan regions.
BLOG POST
McKinsey's Pitch for a More Compact Urban China
<p>The McKinsey Global Institute has just published a major report outlining four potential scenarios for urbanization in China.</p><p>The main thrust of the report is that China needs to focus less on growing its cities and more on making them efficient and productive. Given the massive levels of capital investment Chinese cities have seen over the last 20 years, it makes sense that the country's urban planners need to find ways to squeeze more capacity out of these systems. After all, as McKinsey projects, another 350 million people will need to be accommodated, some 250 million of them as rootless rural migrants.</p>
FEATURE
Small Town Apocalyptic Values
Josh Stephens reviews James Howard Kunstler's novel of post-peak oil existence, <i>World Made By Hand.</i>
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
