Land Use

Stunning Acquittal of Defendants in Standoff with Feds at Oregon Wildlife Refuge

Will the acquittal of seven defendants in a U.S. district court who used force to occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon last January embolden other takeovers of public lands by resentful ranchers or militia?

October 31, 2016 - High Country News

Houston Flood

Texas Flood Victims Searching for Answers

The controversy over the flooding of the Addicks Reservoir outside Houston seems to have no resolution in site. What follows is a cautionary tale about building homes where waters flood.

October 31, 2016 - Houston Chronicle

Plano's 'Legacy West' Mega Development Way Ahead of Schedule

The largest real estate project under construction in Texas, located in Plano, is wrapping up in about half the expected amount of time.

October 30, 2016 - Dallas News

Charlotte

Charlotte Wonders About its Future as a Fast-Growing City

Behind all the debates surrounding the consequences of quick growth, a big question looms for Charlotte and other similarly growing cities: Will it last?

October 30, 2016 - The Charlotte Observer

University of Washington

A New Master Plan for the University of Washington

The University of Washington's growth pattern mirrors that of its home city of Seattle. Now the university must make room for 20 percent more of everything—students, faculty, and staff.

October 30, 2016 - The Urbanist

Los Angeles

Los Angeles Planners Have Had It Up to Here With Parking Podiums

Above-grade parking garages, also called parking podiums, have become a standard typology across Los Angeles. From Koreatown to Downtown, new residential buildings are separated from the street by several floors of space devoted to parking.

October 29, 2016 - Urbanize LA

Bradenton Florida

The Genesis of a Medium-Sized City's Affordable Housing Strategy

Bradenton, a medium-sized city on the Gulf Coast of Florida, offers a case study in affordable housing policy.

October 29, 2016 - Bradenton Herald

New York Parking

NYC Preps to Scrap East Harlem Parking Minimums

Stating the need for increased density and transit-oriented development, the Department of City Planning will remove the neighborhood's parking requirements.

October 28, 2016 - StreetsBlog NYC

Three-Car Garage

Garage Construction Continues to Outpace Apartment Construction

New data reveal the U.S. housing industry's preference for garages for cars over apartments for people.

October 27, 2016 - Bloomberg

Bromo Seltzer Tower Baltimore

Baltimore's New Zoning Code Almost a Done Deal

The Baltimore City Council granted initial approval for the city's first zoning code overhaul in over 40 years.

October 27, 2016 - The Baltimore Sun

Albany

Are States Too Active or Not Active Enough? Yes.

State governments like to limit local taxing authority but not local zoning—maybe they should do the exact opposite.

October 26, 2016 - Michael Lewyn

Joan Clos

'The World's Urban Planner': UN-Habitat's Joan Clos

The phrase "everything on the street" captures UN-Habitat head Joan Clos's approach to urbanization. In the wake of Habitat III, who is the man behind the conference's "New Urban Agenda"?

October 26, 2016 - Citiscope

Sprawl

A Toolkit for Solving California's Housing Crisis

The McKinsey Global Institute wants to help California build 3.5 million homes by 2025.

October 26, 2016 - The New York Times

Washington D.C.

Mapping Washington, D.C.'s New Zoning Code

After years of planning, Washington, D.C. this year adopted a new zoning code. With new maps from the District Office of Zoning, you can see for yourself what the city's new land use regulation regime looks like.

October 26, 2016 - Greater Greater Washington

Chicago

A Plan to Bike the Length of the Chicago River by 2030

The Chicago River is attracting some of the city's most creative visions for the future. The second plan in recent months proves the potential of the river as an open space asset.

October 25, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

Brooklyn

As Cities Have Changed, So Have Richard Florida's Ideas

Call it the re-education, the evolution, or the contrition of Richard Florida, but the "rock-star urbanist" has realized some unintended consequences of his creative class ethos, and he's ready to share a new vision for cities.

October 25, 2016 - Houston Chronicle

New York Apartments

A Legal Battle Over Short-Term Rentals Erupts in New York City

Suddenly, the business practices of Airbnb seem to be under attack in many locations—including one of the company's most lucrative markets.

October 24, 2016 - The New York Times

Farmed Here Aquaponics

Urban Farming—Just for the Few?

Urban agriculture likely has more social than material impacts. But who does it benefit most?

October 24, 2016 - Vox

Corner Store

Growing Cities Starting to See Mixed-Use Development as a Solution

New York City provides a case study in the effort to satisfy growing demand with more mixed-use development.

October 23, 2016 - The New York Times

New Orleans

New Orleans Approves Contentious Short-Term Rentals Regulation

Many cities popular with tourists are dealing with the effects of a proliferation of short-term rental properties (brokered through the use of online platforms like Airbnb). New Orleans just took steps to legalize, but limit, short-term rentals.

October 22, 2016 - The Times-Picayune

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.