Land Use

Another Suburban Anchor Development Doomed by Fate in the Detroit Region
The Detroit Pistons recently played their last game in the Palace of Auburn Hills.
'NIMBY' Too Gentle a Word: How About 'New Urban Luddites'?
Richard Florida calls for the use of the term "New Urban Luddites" to describe the embedded interests that obstruct the growth of cities. The consequences of New Urban Luddite politics, according to Florida, are too severe for such an innocuous term.

Insurance Industry Reacting as Flooding Moves From Risk to Certainty
Federal legislation and rising sea levels are changing the way homes are insured against flooding. According to this feature article, in fact, flood insurance "is serving as a kind of advance scout into a more difficult future."

Lawsuit Closes Popular Hiking Trail to the Hollywood Sign
Closing today: one of the most popular hiking trails in the Hollywood Hills, another case of the antipathy between public access and private property.

Multi-Family Development in Portland Stalls at a Controversial Crossroads for the City
On the one hand, the city of Portland is facing pressure to add new housing and development to meet the needs of a growing population and an expensive real estate market. On the other hand, change is never easy.

Creating Inclusive Communities: Notes From a Conference
The Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute annual conference is the region's premier gathering of planning professionals. This year's conference explored strategies for building inclusive cities in which everyone can thrive.

New York Joins Other Cities Hoping to Limit Self-Storage Facilities
Self-storage buildings are multiplying across New York City, where local officials would prefer to protect and grow the city's base of manufacturing and industrial jobs.

Seattle Upzones its Urban Core
A large swatch of downtown and an adjacent neighborhood can develop taller and denser after the Seattle City Council approved zoning changes this week.

Revitalized Neighborhood in Cincinnati Wants to Keep Parking for Free
The age-old controversy over the cost of parking in heating up in East Walnut Hills, Cincinnati.

The Future of Farming is Millennials
An aging population of farmers may give way to a generation of young entrepreneurs who see the value and values of growing food.

San Diego Controversy Exhibits Disconnect Between Citizen Advisors and Planning Staff
A community plan update and a development proposal have led to hurt feelings and flared tempers in San Diego.

Winner of the 2017 Parking Madness Tournament Announced
It's every Shoupista's favorite day of the year.

How Apple's Headquarters Got More Parking Spaces Than Employee Spaces
Parking is back in the news, with a high-profile case study: the new spaceship-shaped headquarters of Apple in Cupertino has devoted a larger footprint to parking spaces than office space.

Is Payless ShoeSource Bankruptcy a Sign of the Coming 'Retail Apocalypse'?
The latest Chapter 11 in a familiar story.

Friday Fun: An Interactive Tool That Explains Floor Area Ratio
The Center for Urban Pedagogy's latest tool provides an easy and fun way to explain a difficult but critical concept: floor area ratio.

Cleveland Considering Options for Derelict Lakefront Power Plant
A planning consultant hired by FirstEnergy is putting out the first speculative ideas for the future of a contaminated lakefront site of a most demolished power plant.

Leading San Francisco Architect Picks a Fight With the City's Planning Department
Architects and planners have to work together, as everyone on both sides of the equation knows. Even though the fields often speak the same language, there still seem to be many moments and ideas lost in translation.

Removing California's Costa-Hawkins Act and the Future of Rent Control
In an attempt to combat prohibitively high housing costs in California, some look to repeal the 1995 state law that limits the power of local rent control ordinances. However, removing those restrictions would likely exaggerate current problems.

Critiquing the First Woonerf in Minneapolis
You be the judge: is this innovative land use in Downtown Minneapolis a woonerf or a glorified parking lot?

Philadelphia's Freeway Cap Park Almost Fully Funded, Ready to Start Planning
March was a momentous month for the Central Access Philadelphia (CAP) project. The project would build cap over I-95 at Penn's Landing, among other improvements.
Pagination
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions