Land Use

Kentucky, Land of Blue Grass and Karst?

The architectural firm SCAPE plans new paths through Lexington, Kentucky’s downtown using the city's buried water and karst formations as its key features.

October 22, 2016 - The Achitect's Newspaper

Planned Obsolescence for Denver Parking

Denver developers are building parking that can be converted into housing, anticipating radical changes that autonomous vehicles could bring to city life.

October 22, 2016 - Denver Post

Residential Infill Regulations Designed to Slow the Advance of McMansions

The city of Portland, Oregon is considering new regulations to limit the kinds of homes that can be built in existing neighborhoods.

October 21, 2016 - Portland for Everyone

San Francisco Houses

Study: Land Use Regulation Slows Economic Growth

Pro-development advocates have a new study to back up their cause.

October 21, 2016 - The Wall Street Journal

Parking

Comparing the Cost Price of Parking in 50 U.S. Cities

The first comprehensive comparison of inter-city differences in parking prices shows huge variations in the price of parking in cities around the United States.

October 20, 2016 - City Observatory

Parking

ParkDC to Bring Dynamic Pricing to Chinatown Parking Spaces

The District Department of Transportation is expanding its experiments with dynamic parking prices.

October 20, 2016 - WAMU

Los Angeles River

Los Angeles County: It's Time to Update the Master Plan for the L.A. River

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted this week to begin the processing of updating the 20-year-old Los Angeles River Master Plan.

October 20, 2016 - Curbed LA

Arlington

Arlington County Allows New Street Variations to Prioritize Multi-Modalism

The Virginia county of Arlington has written into law the ability to create shared streets as well as streets that prioritize pedestrians.

October 20, 2016 - Arlington County

Amazon Drone

Are the Skies Like Wilderness, and Do Drones Belong?

Love 'em or hate 'em, drones are coming. But is the issue of aesthetics getting enough treatment in the drone wars?

October 19, 2016 - Pete Sullivan

Road Construction

Debate: Growing the Economy From the Supply Side

Two economists discuss how specific kinds of deregulation could speed up growth. They emphasize planning issues: local overregulation of development and the high cost of infrastructure, among others.

October 19, 2016 - Bloomberg View

Why Can't My Zoning Create a Diversity of Places?

Struggling with zoning that thwarts the construction of new hamlets, villages, towns, and cities? Susan Henderson has a bit of place type inspiration from across the pond.

October 18, 2016 - PlaceShakers

Seattle

'Seattle 2035' Plan Finalized and Adopted

"Seattle’s multi-year process to update the city’s Comprehensive Plan has come to its conclusion finding unanimous consent and approval from the City Council," reports Stephen Fesler.

October 18, 2016 - The Urbanist

Sprawl

Gov. Jerry Brown Condemns State School Bond Measure for Promoting Sprawl

Ten newspapers have joined California Gov. Jerry Brown in opposing Proposition 51, a $9 billion bond ballot measure endorsed by both Democrats, including the lieutenant governor, and Republicans.

October 18, 2016 - Planetizen

Chicago

Chicago TOD Strategies: Sum Of Parts Equal, Greater Than the Whole

A successful TOD will be predicated upon three core elements: 1) development; 2) transit; and 3) transit-friendly amenities. While focus tends to be on the first two elements, this article provides insights on the importance of the third element.

October 17, 2016 - Renewal & Redevelopment (Association for Redevelopment Initiatives)

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Launches New Permit and Code Tracking Website

The city of Pittsburgh launched a Buildingeye website to provide new access to the development and approval process in the city.

October 16, 2016 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An image of a path through sand dunes to ocean in New Jersey

Calling for an End to Federal Support for Beach Nourishment

In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, a researcher calls attention to the method behind the federal spending on billions of dollars of investment in unsustainable beaches.

October 15, 2016 - The New York Times

Blight Demolition

The Dangers of Demolition for Its Own Sake

Jason Hackworth argues that demolition has come to be seen as a good, in and of itself, in rust belt cities like Detroit; giving rise to policies that are wrong-headed and dangerous.

October 15, 2016 - London School of Economics and Political Science - American Politics and Policy Blog

Austin Traffic

Austin Chamber of Commerce Supports Form-Based Codes Among Traffic Fixes

The Austin Chamber of Commerce is connecting the dots between land use and transportation—and voicing its support for reform of the city's land use regulations.

October 14, 2016 - Austin Business Journal

Pittsburgh Bridge

Pittsburgh Mayor Pitches a New 'P4' Standard for Development Proposals

The city of Pittsburgh could adopt a new set of standards for measuring development projects to focus on people, planet, place, and performance.

October 13, 2016 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Simi Valley

Urban Containment: Sometimes Bad, Sometimes Not So Much

Some commentators on urban containment treat the issue as all-or-nothing: either strict limits on suburban development are good public policy everywhere, or they are good public policy nowhere. Perhaps a more nuanced view is appropriate.

October 11, 2016 - Michael Lewyn

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.