Exclusives

BLOG POST

Telling the Planning Story

During my term of office as president of the American Planning Association, I made my theme “telling the planning story.” My point then – and today – is that we need to do a better job of explaining to our many publics what it is that planners do and why it makes a difference.

March 7 - Eric Damian Kelly

BLOG POST

Baudrillard is dead; I feel okay

<img src="/files/u10403/shockney9.jpg" alt="" hspace="10" vspace="6" width="268" height="162" align="left" />The French postmodern philosopher <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudrillard">Jean Baudrillard</a> <a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/06/europe/EU-GEN-France-Obit-Baudrillard.php">died yesterday</a> (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0679720200/ref=sib_dp_pt/105-3662130-2734002#reader-link">"or yesterday maybe"</a>). He wrote a lot about simulation and simulacra; if you went to college in the late 1980s like me, you quoted him in your thesis. Lots of stuff about how things in the world were actually perfect simulations of real things, and what that meant for our experiences of them.Postmodernists. Weird guys.But I remembered—misremembered, actually—a salient bit from his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/America-Jean-Baudrillard/dp/8433925059/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4/105-3662130-2734002?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173293088&sr=8-4">America</a>. Tracked it down in a recent issue of the <a href="http://www.ubishops.ca/baudrillardstudies/vol4_1/levy.htm">International Journal of Jean Baudrillard Studies</a>. It's coming after the break.

March 7 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

Web sites to read, and an interesting paper

Our blog taskmaster, Christian, told me that my day for posting was going to be the 6th of every month, and that if I failed...well, let's just say he pointed me to <a href="http://www.bmezine.com/" target="_blank" title="body mods">this site</a> and told me to be afraid.So here I am, with an easy three hours before end-of-day.Let's get started with a couple of blogs you should be reading (other than ours, of course). The action starts after the jump.

March 6 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

Getting real about planning and mobility

After reading through dozens of long range transportation plans, I have to wonder if the planning profession is serious about improving mobility. By mobility, I mean improving the ability, speed, and efficiency of getting from point A to point B.

March 6 - Samuel Staley

BLOG POST

Bill Richardson -- The Planner's Candidate?

As planners and most allied professionals know, the federal government lacks cohesive urban and environmental policies, and especially during the tenure of the current Bush administration, there has been a relative lack of investment in cities, public transportation systems, and alternative sources of energy. With the ongoing war in Iraq and perennial issues like social security, healthcare, and immigration dominating the political landscape, important domestic issues like affordable housing, public transit, and compact urban growth seem little more than a microscopic blip on the radar screens of potential 2008 presidential candidates, if they discuss these issues at all.

March 6 - David Gest

BLOG POST

Revisiting Robert Moses

The message from last weekend's two-day symposium at Columbia University, the Queens Museum and the Museum of the City of New York on Robert Moses: many aspects of the master builder's place in history haven't been told, despite Robert Caro's 1,162-page Pulizter Prize-winning biography; and that New York may need to rethink the paradigm for big plans and community engagement as the unique metropolis makes new investments in transit, roadways and large redevelopment projects from Ground Zero to Hudson Yards.

March 5 - Anthony Flint

BLOG POST

Who Pays for the Subprime Lender Meltdown?

Scrambling to grab that elusive “American Dream” of homeownership, millions plunged into the subprime mortgage market to build wealth through appreciation (if not speculation). Pundits cheered as the ownership rate crept up, lauding the pluck of aspirational minority and immigrant families.There’s a reason it is called subprime, though. Lenders offered a smorgasborg of loan “products,” but the bottom line was that they are all very costly for the borrower – often entailing adjustable-rate surprises in the 30 percent or higher range.

March 5 - James S. Russell

BLOG POST

A Way Out of New York City Rent Regulation Impasse

The merit of rent regulation is a recurring debate in New York City. On one side are tenant advocates arguing that rent regulation is desperately needed to help poorer households, maintain socioeconomic diversity in New York City, and prevent the City from becoming the preserve of the super rich. Real estate interests on the other hand argue that rent regulation deprives property owners of the right to market their apartments as they see fit, causes landlords to under-invest in their properties, and that in many instances the beneficiaries of rent regulation are affluent. What makes the debate so bedeviling and contentious is that both sides are correct.

March 5 - Lance Freeman

BLOG POST

If You Build It, They Will Come...

The planned expansion of Interstate-5 in San Diego County would finally complete the Southern California metropolis. Los Angeles and Orange Counties became wall-to-wall sprawl development decades ago, erasing all traces of their rural heritage and the scenic outdoors. Northern San Diego County, with its quaint beach towns, is tenuously holding on to the last vestiges of agricultural land and breathable open space. But these areas too are rapidly developing. It is no surprise then that I-5, the only north-south route along the coast, is increasingly traffic clogged. The county’s solution? Invest $1.4 billion to expand the freeway from 8 lanes to 12 or 14 lanes along a 26-mile stretch of the north county coast.

March 3 - Diana DeRubertis

BLOG POST

The End of Planning (as we know it)

For as often as the Gulf Coast and 9/11 debacles and their aftermaths have been analyzed, one discussion has been conspicuously missing: how starkly those events, natural and man-made, revealed the inability of planning today--however professionally designed, organized and regulated—to contend with the vagaries of circumstances and conditions out of its control.

March 3 - Roger Sherman

BLOG POST

Such a Sisyphean task this Thing we call Planning

What is this thing we do called planning? Are we really planning or just reacting? And visioning? What’s that all about? These the questions that came to mind as I was reading yesterday’s - <a href="http://www.planetizen.com/node/23076">Ineffective Local Planning Efforts Push County To Seek Greater Control</a>. And, also, how many articles like this are published on a daily basis?? If you were to add them all up from across the country, I’m sure the number wouldn’t be insignificant.

March 2 - David Renkert

BLOG POST

Diminutive Offerings from a Grocery Store Giant: Will They Fill the Grocery Store Gap?

The impact of the urban grocery store gap, particularly on low-income communities, has been well documented. The presence of full-service grocery store can raise the economic value of surrounding property, serve as an anchor in commercial districts, provide an important source of jobs, and lower the daily cost of living for residents. In an era of skyrocketing obesity rates, public health research shows a strong correlation between the presence of a grocery store and the consumption of fruits and vegetables.

February 28 - Lisa Feldstein

BLOG POST

Toward An Architecture Of Place

At Project for Public Spaces, Inc. we think successful public spaces are the key to the future of cities. By “successful spaces” we mean spaces that are used, but what we find more often than not, in the centers of cities, are some very bad spaces – meaning that they are pretty much devoid of opportunities to do anything – even though they look good. We have also found that the least successful spaces and buildings are often the newest ones.

February 27 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

Murder or Traffic Fatalities: Which is Worse?

New Orleans is experiencing a crime wave. High murder rates in the first two months of 2007 have made national attention. Anderson Cooper of CNN has been following this story. So far this year he has devoted two hour-long shows to this topic. I live in central New Orleans and my biggest complaint about the city is the high crime rate. I don’t think our city will recover if we fail to address this most serious issue. Crime makes you ask yourself – should I move to the suburbs where it’s safer and commute? But being a transportation planner, I can’t help but follow-up that question with – If I spend a lot more time driving will my exposure to dieing in a car accident increase? So which is worse - murder or traffic fatalities?

February 27 - John Renne

BLOG POST

The End of People Power Planning?

Thousands of New Orleanians have participated in planning their post-Katrina future – likely more than in any single American city-planning effort, ever. Unfortunately, the New Orleans experience definitively demonstrates the limits of orthodox community-focused planning, the kind that has been neighborhood-based and consensus-driven.

February 27 - James S. Russell

BLOG POST

Recovery Planning in New Orleans

Thanks to Planetizen for asking me to participate in “Planetizen Interchange” with such a distinguished group. This is my first entry so to let you know a bit about me, I live in New Orleans, LA. I was displaced for 10 months to Houston, TX after Katrina destroyed my house, but I am back in New Orleans where I am a planning, zoning and land use consultant.

February 26 - Anonymous

FEATURE

Latinos and Planning: The Road Ahead

With the Latino population growing tremendously, it's time to begin addressing the shortcomings in the practice of planning regarding this key demographic.

February 26 - Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

BLOG POST

Famous Seer Predicts Congestion Will Get Worse . . .

In spring 2007, the Texas Transportation Institute and its partners will release the newest version of the "Mobility Report." This eagerly-awaited document will chronicle the worsening congestion in urban and suburban America. The report typically spawns a frenzy of media stories as folks eagerly peruse the ranking lists finding out just how their area did. While methodology tweaks and data issues might add a few wrinkles, no one will be surprised to see congestion worse than the prior report two years ago. Surprise, surprise!

February 25 - Steven Polzin

BLOG POST

Is it possible to design both for the pedestrian and for the car?

It has been a few years since my last trip to Europe, so perhaps I have selective memory. But I don’t recall having to compete with hundreds of cars or choke down exhaust while exploring the streets of London. I remember navigating through seas of people that filled the city’s squares, alleyways and boulevards.

February 24 - Diana DeRubertis

BLOG POST

Decision Time for (Prospective) Graduate Students

For those admitted to graduate planning programs in the U.S., March is the season of choices and decisions. Offers appear. Decision deadlines approach. Wait lists are formed. Even those who thought they knew what they wanted may be tempted to change their minds. Having been affiliated with seven vastly different planning programs, and having worked both as a faculty member and practitioner, I can attest that the choices aren’t simple.

February 24 - Ann Forsyth