Land Use

Cincinnati, Ohio

The 2017 'Great Places in America'

The American Planning Association's annual list celebrates the best urban planning and design from around the country.

October 4, 2017 - American Planning Association

Floyds Fork Louisville

New Development, Open Space Set to Clash in Louisville Again

The Covington by the Park development proposal is back. The developer has revised previously stalled plans for a conservation subdivision on Louisville's eastern edge.

October 4, 2017 - Insider Louisville

Google Headquarters Expansion Trips Near the Finish Line

Negotiations between the city of Mountain View and tech giant Google over the latter's plans to expand its headquarters recently took a strange turn.

October 4, 2017 - The Mercury News

Houston Flood

Opinion: Forget Zoning, Houston Needs a Floodplain Ordinance

Zoning might not have saved Houston from Harvey, but a strong floodplain ordinance would have, according to an opinion piece published in the Houston Chronicle.

October 3, 2017 - Houston Chronicle

San Bernardino

San Bernardino County Launches New Online Permitting System

The processes for planning and permitting development and construction projects are moving online. A Southern California county provides the latest example.

October 3, 2017 - Inland Empire Community News

Seattle Councilmember Wants a Temporary Development Moratorium While Rezoning Proceeds

The vision for Aurora-Licton Springs includes more pedestrian-friendly housing developments—not the drive-in businesses, recycling and solid waste, vehicle sales, and mini-storage business that currently get permitted and built.

October 3, 2017 - The Urbanist

Cul-de-Sac

Two Simple Sentences Could Reshape Suburban America

A seemingly innocuous sentence embedded in almost every subdivision ordinance across the United States has disconnected neighborhoods and made cities unwalkable. Two sentences could change that.

October 3, 2017 - Modern Cities

San Jose, California

San Jose Sets Target for 25,000 New Housing Units in the Next Five Years

The mayor of San Jose's newly announced housing plan would include 10,000 affordable units.

October 3, 2017 - The Mercury News

Passaic River Hydropower

At Least One Paterson Councilmember Is Skeptical About Plans to Revitalize Great Falls Area

What should a local elected leader do when he or she disagrees with a high-profile expenditure with support from on high?

October 2, 2017 - Paterson Press

Gentrification

Property Tax Relief for Longtime Residents Impacted by Gentrification

The city of Lexington in Kentucky is looking for ways to insulate long-time residents from rising property tax bills.

October 2, 2017 - Lexington Herald Leader

High Speed Rail Transforming California's Housing, TOD Conversation

The California Legislature took steps to address the state's housing crisis this year, but housing activists might look to the Governor's High Speed Rail project to provide a link to affordable housing in the Central Valley.

September 29, 2017 - The Planning Report

Flooding in Howard Beach

New York Updating its Flood Resilience Zoning

New York City intends to make sure that zoning codes are a tool for preventing the risks of flooding.

September 27, 2017 - NYC Planning

Georgia

'Atlanta City Design' Book Makes a Plan for Equity

Two of the most prominent planners in Atlanta have released a book to help set an agenda for equity as the city grows in the next two decades.

September 27, 2017 - Next City

Oregon

Planning Director Susan Anderson Separates Fact from Fiction in Portland(ia)

Planetizen's "Planners Across America" series continues in the city that put many contemporary best planning practices on the map: Portland, Oregon.

September 26, 2017 - Josh Stephens

110 Freeway

L.A.'s New Transit Oriented Communities Guidelines Are a Boost for Affordable Housing

The city of Los Angeles is taking substantive action to provide incentives for affordable housing development.

September 25, 2017 - Urbanize LA

High Rises

A Database of Urbanism-Related Research

A new project is intended to forge connections between research and practice in the world of urbanism.

September 25, 2017 - Public Square

Students at a graduation ceremony

Universities See a Real Estate Upside in Merging with Smaller Schools

Larger universities, like Boston University, have begun swallowing up smaller schools that offer new students and a goldmine of real estate in dense urban areas.

September 24, 2017 - The Boston Globe

Main Street

Cheaper Parking Bathed in Purple in Walnut Creek

A new on-street parking regime comes with a royal purple color scheme in a ritzy suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area.

September 24, 2017 - East Bay Times

Brockworth in Gloucestershire

Op-Ed Pins Britain's Housing Crisis on its Green Belts

The green belts that hem in developed areas in Great Britain are set arbitrarily, according to this op-ed in The Guardian, and the boundaries have outlived their usefulness.

September 23, 2017 - The Guardian

Miami Temperature

Miami Beach: A Model of Climate Adaptation for Coastal Cities?

How did the seven square mile, four-foot high barrier island in the Atlantic Ocean off Miami and Biscayne Bay hold-up to Hurricane Irma? The city arguably has done more to adapt to sea level rise in recent times than any other coastal city.

September 22, 2017 - Planetizen

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.