Land Use

Target Parking Lot

Study: Americans Can't Afford High Cost of Parking

Parking guru Donald Shoup writes in the current issue of Access magazine that parking is a "good servant but a poor master" meaning that parking should be friendly but not subsidized.

June 7, 2016 - Access Magazine

Tysons Corner Station Redevelopment

Survey: Americans Favor TOD-Friendly Zoning Changes

A survey by HNTB Corporation found that 73 percent of Americans would support land use and zoning changes to encourage transit oriented development.

June 7, 2016 - HNTB

Buffalo

Cars Credited with a Comeback on Main Street

Once only accessible to pedestrians and Metro Rail, Main Street in Buffalo is seeing automobile traffic and business investment again.

June 6, 2016 - The Buffalo News

East Brother Light Station

Developer's Ballot Box Planning Would Allow Suburban Development at Ferry Terminal

A June 7 ballot measure in Richmond, California would permit 59 single family homes to be built on a 5-acre bayfront lot within walking distance to a future ferry landing for San Francisco service. The site is zoned for high-density housing.

June 4, 2016 - San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Bay Bridge

The 'Housing Development Dashboard' Promises a New Understanding of Housing Policy

A new set of tools from the U.C. Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation offers insight into how projects fit into the policy landscape, as well as how changes to the policy landscape could impact development.

June 3, 2016 - Terner Center for Housing Innovation

City Hall Philadelphia

Proposed Bill Would Empower Philadelphia Councilmember Prerogative

A Philadelphia councilmember has proposed a seemingly esoteric bill that would amend the city code to give individual councilmembers new power in the planning process.

June 2, 2016 - PlanPhilly

Detroit Vacant Properties

Federal Agencies Investigating the Rising Costs of Detroit's Blight Program

Detroit's aggressive blight reduction strategy, to demolish vacant homes by the thousands, is coming under scrutiny for rising costs. The FBI and the U.S. Inspector General are investigating.

May 31, 2016 - Detroit Free Press

Bike Path

A Chicago Bike Path Goes Underused

While a federally-funded network of bike paths is in the works elsewhere in the city, the Major Taylor Trail gets little use from Chicago residents. The main problems are a lack of awareness and the South Side's fearsome reputation.

May 31, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

Los Angeles

Los Angeles' Ballot Box Planning and Development Initiatives Leaders Discuss Impacts

Two major ballot initiatives would change the state of planning and development in L.A. As the housing and planning crisis reaches new levels, initiative leaders and land-use experts discuss how to create a viable path forward.

May 31, 2016 - The Planning Report

Arts District

The Arts District and the 'Missed Opportunity' of Planning in L.A.

Downtown L.A.'s Arts District transformed from an industrial sector to a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood. Now, the community's attempts to protect their vision from haphazard development illuminate Los Angeles's broken planning process.

May 29, 2016 - The Planning Report

Sports Authority

This Month's Bad News for Retail Could Be of the Fundamental Variety

The retail sector got a wake up call this month.

May 29, 2016 - The Record

Trinity Park rendering

Planetizen Week in Review: May 27, 2016

Planetizen Managing Editor James Brasuell shares some of the biggest news and announcements from the week in planning, land use, and related topics.

May 27, 2016 - Planetizen

Dallas Highways

Ambivalence Over Dallas 'Deck Park' Proposal

As the Southern Gateway project moves forward in the state approval process, a component proposal for a cap park over Interstate 35E hangs in the balance.

May 27, 2016 - The Dallas Morning News

Dolores Park

Some Things Aren't for Sale in San Francisco's Dolores Park (Like Dolores Park)

Controversy struck the famously laissez-faire expanses of Dolores Park in San Francisco this week, after the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department launched, and then quickly rescinded, a program to rent park space.

May 27, 2016 - Sfist

Zion National Park

Months Before Turning 100, National Parks Are More Popular Than Ever

Turning 100 the same year as New York's first Zoning Code? The National Park Service, of course. The momentous occasion is likely to find the parks more popular than ever.

May 26, 2016 - FiveThirtyEight

The Good Old Days of Suburban Development (or Not)

Numerous popular and academic writers from the 1950s and 1960s critiqued suburban development patterns and found them wanting.

May 26, 2016 - Curbed

Columbus Pilot Project Gives a West Cherry Street to Pedestrians

This summer, a pilot project will close a block of West Cherry Street to cars in Columbus, Ohio. If the project proves popular, more of the street could be permanently given to pedestrians.

May 26, 2016 - Columbus Underground

Tampa

Tampa Approves Big Riverfront Park Renovation

The Tampa City Council approved a big, ambitious park proposal for 23 neglected acres along the Hillsborough River.

May 26, 2016 - Tampa Bay Times

Hospital Signs

A Missing Conversation: Medical Centers and the Built Environment

Hospitals, medical research centers, and the like are supposed to represent health, but are often an unappealing and monolithic presence in the urban landscape. How can the form of health centers fall in line with their function?

May 25, 2016 - The Brookings Institution

Portland

Reflecting on Regional Planning—50 Years Later

The planning world celebrated Jane Jacobs's 100th birthday earlier this month, and has already begun commemorating the centennial of New York's first zoning code. But did you know regional planning rose to prominence 50 years ago?

May 25, 2016 - MZ Strategies

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.

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.