Land Use

Do We Know Any More About the Future of Cities Than We Did in April 2020?
The conversation about how the pandemic might alter the direction of planning and urbanism, unlike the spread of the coronavirus, has remained steady since March.

Planned Highway Widening Requires Eminent Domain in Southern California
Advocates are calling out regional and state transportation planning agencies for a failure of racial justice as plans to widen a freeway in Southern California move forward.

Flood Risk Upends the North Carolina Housing Market
Inequalities in the housing market of coastal North Carolina communities have already been exacerbated by the effects of extreme weather and climate change.

3 Freeway Cap Projects Designed to Undo the Racism of the Past
A trio of freeway cap proposals around the country—in St. Paul, Atlanta, and Austin—embody the potential of infrastructure change to undo the mistakes of the past.

General Plan, Development Code Update Planned in San Bernardino, California
Big planning and code changes are on tap for the city of San Bernardino in the Inland Empire.

Tax Break Offered for Transit Oriented Development in Maryland's Montgomery County
The Montgomery County Council approved a property tax break as an incentive for high-rise rental developments located on Metro station properties.

Trump Decision to Bail on Federal Stimulus Pushes Music Venues Over the Brink
Public transit, employment, homelessness, foreclosures—all hang in the balance as the federal government falters with a proposed economic recovery package. So does the prospect of going to a show after the pandemic.

Designing Safe Passage for Steelhead Trout Through the L.A. River
The Southern California steelhead was added to the federal endangered species list in 1997. Today, planners are working to create a new home for the trout in the L.A. River.

California's 'Split Roll' Property Tax Reform, Explained
California voters will consider a landmark reform of its infamous property tax system this November. Prop. 15 would remove property tax caps on commercial properties established by Prop. 13 in 1978.

As U.S. Transportation Infrastructure Holds Back Economic Recovery, It's Time for Change
Opinion: Six months into the pandemic, the state of the U.S. economy reveals that the planning profession can support struggling Americans by focusing on transportation and the land use patterns that enable mass transit.

On the Ballot in Alameda: The End of Single-Family Zoning
Voters in Alameda, a city of nearly 80,000 people on an island in the East San Francisco Bay Area, will vote to end a prohibition on multi-family housing that has been in place since 1973.

The Social Dynamics of Houston's Urban Expansion
A new study published in the Land Use Policy journal explains how Houston's rapid expansion occurred, and why it matters.

Strange Days: Outrage Absent as Businesses Reclaim Parking Spots
It took a pandemic, but the worldwide effort to move restaurant and retail businesses outside, at the expense of parking, is proving far less controversial than it would have before the coronavirus swept the globe.

A Pro-Development Approach to Housing Affordability and Economic Growth
Decades of building housing on the fringes of metropolitan areas have mired the United States in a housing affordability crisis defined by a widening gap between the haves and the have nots.

Can L.A. Accomplish Affordability with 'Housing Plus, Plus, Plus'?
Alfred Fraijo Jr., partner at Sheppard Mullin, shares frustration with what he sees as a state inaction on housing and L.A.'s legacy of piecemeal planning and outdated zoning.

Transit Passes Are Way, Way More Expensive Than Street Parking Permits
Some might call it call it asphalt socialism, but public subsidies tend to only go one way in the United States: toward the car.

Ambitious New Boston Common Master Plan Revealed
The oldest city park in the United States, used as a cow pasture until the 19th century, is slated for a major upgrade.

Plan Bay Area 2050 Proposes 60% Telecommute Rates for Office Workers
A drastic and unprecedented measure included in the draft Plan Bay Area 2050, released this summer, would require 60 percent of all workers in Bay Area office jobs to telecommute.

Lawyers Taking the Single-Family Zoning Fight to a Connecticut Town
Open Communities Alliance, along with law students and professors at a fair housing development clinic at Yale Law School, have proposed a development meant to trigger the exclusionary zoning code in the town of Woodbridge, Connecticut.

Judge Throws Out Plans for New Residential Skyscraper on Manhattan's Upper West Side
A residential skyscraper proposed for Manhattan's Upper West Side included a mechanical void that predated new rules in the city prohibiting the height-enhancing building practice. A judge still rejected the project as planned.
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Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie