Land Use

Car Graveyard

3 Ways to Overcome a Century of Car-Centric Planning

The consequences of car-centric planning are clear, a century after cars took over streets and lives across this country. According to this article, so to is a new way forward.

December 21, 2019 - Citymetric

Los Angeles

Affordable Housing Required for Development on L.A. City Properties

The Los Angeles City Council has approved a rule that residential buildings on city property will have to be 100 percent affordable.

December 19, 2019 - Curbed Los Angeles

Water SUpply

Colorado River Cutback Plan to Start in January

States in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River will contribute more water in order to keep reservoirs from reaching critically low levels.

December 19, 2019 - azcentral.com

Washington, D.C. Apartment Building

Is the Height Act Responsible for D.C.'s Sky High Housing Prices?

The Height Act is up for debate again in Washington, D.C., amidst an emotional debate about housing affordability.

December 19, 2019 - WAMU

Ontario, Canada

Plan for 40,000 New Affordable Homes Approved in Toronto

An ambitious plan to build 40,000 new affordable housing units in the next ten years will require the support of local politicians as well as elected officials at the provincial and federal levels.

December 19, 2019 - The Star

MBTA Green Line

253,000 Housing Units Possible in Boston With Transit Oriented Density, Report Says

Raising density around transit stations to a level already existing in some parts of the city would enable hundreds of thousands of new housing units in and around Boston, according to a thought experiment by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership.

December 19, 2019 - The Boston Globe

Good E Project

Adaptive Reuse Contributes to Ambitious Development Momentum in Dallas' Deep Ellum

With a massive development project called The Epic already under construction as a future home for Uber, a Dallas developer is turning its attention to nearby sites.

December 18, 2019 - The Dallas Morning News

Ontario, Canada

Toronto's Biggest Story of 2019: Mississauga

The city of Mississauga is undergoing a transformation so complete that one Toronto-based write said the suburb is the city's issue of the year.

December 18, 2019 - Toronto Storeys

Hillsboro, Oregon

The Death and Life of Great American…Suburbs?

Long considered beneath serious attention by design and planning elites, suburban settlements in the United States are emerging as key arenas to address crucial environmental, economic, and social issues.

December 17, 2019 - Michael Mehaffy

Milwaukee Ground Floor Urban Design

Milwaukee Updates Zoning Code to Encourage Walkability

The city of Milwaukee will require new commercial developments to include a 15-foot "street frontage zone" to encourage walking.

December 17, 2019 - Urban Milwaukee

Winter in Pennsylvania

Height Limits, Roof Deck Ban Killed by Philly Planning Commission's Pocket Veto

The Philadelphia City Planning Commission made a "rare how of power" in using a variety of "pocket veto" to kill proposed height and roof deck restrictions in the Far Northeast section of Philadelphia.

December 17, 2019 - WHYY

College Students

Innovative Planning Curriculum Awarded

Winners of an annual award for innovation in planning curriculum were announced earlier this year, and applications for 2020's award will be open until February.

December 16, 2019 - Land Lines

Supreme Court

Supreme Court Refuses Landmark Homelessness Case

A closely watched court case related to how cities deal with homeless people sleeping in public, Martin v. Boise, will not get hearing with the U.S. Supreme Court.

December 16, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Ben Carson

The Decade in Urban Planning

A look back at the biggest stories and themes from the world of urban planning in the decade that was the 2010s.

December 16, 2019 - James Brasuell

Lisbon, Portugal

What Can Brain Science Tell Us About Cities?

Cities are not unlike brains in their capacity to evolve along complex, self-organizing patterns. Studying what some researchers call the "urban connectome" may give us insight into how best to organize the places where we live.

December 15, 2019 - CNU Public Square

Mississippi River Missouri

Leaving Flood-Prone Area Free of Development Would Save Billions, Study Says

It makes more fiscal sense to buy flood-prone land and conserve it than to cover the costs of the damages to developments, according to researchers from the University of Bristol and other institutions.

December 15, 2019 - St. Louis Public Radio

Toronto Towers

Op-Ed: What Can Be Done About Toronto's Drabness?

After decades of "just-good-enough when it comes to design," now may be the time for Toronto to take steps to upgrade its aesthetics.

December 14, 2019 - The Toronto Star

Equity in Public Spaces

Earlier this year, the Project for Public Spaces published a "Playbook for Inclusive Placemaking."

December 13, 2019 - Project For Public Spaces

Duluth

Duluth to Provide Free Land for Creative Housing Proposals

To address its housing shortage, the city of Duluth is giving away free parcels of land to developers with viable proposals for low-cost housing.

December 13, 2019 - Next City

Suburban Neighborhood

Homeownership—American Dream or Nightmare?

Owning a home has long been considered the ultimate aspiration. But social and economic realities mean the stories about and the path to homeownership are not simple and straightforward.

December 13, 2019 - Curbed

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.