Land Use

Study: Distance Between Homes and Jobs Increasing

A new study finds that the first decade of the 21st century exhibited a mass migration—of U.S. jobs moving farther away from where U.S. residents live.

March 26, 2015 - Brookings Institution

Planning for Climate Change on the Shores of the Great Lakes

Two academic researchers explain the planning and landscape architecture opportunities offered by the "dramatic fluctuations" and "emergent shorelands" of the Great Lakes Coasts.

March 25, 2015 - Places Journal

Pittsburgh Launches $32 Million 'Envision Downtown' Initiative

The Envision Downtown Initiative will focus on street improvements to improve public interactions.

March 25, 2015 - Pittsburg Post-Gazette

Accessory Dwelling Unit

The Trouble with Legalizing Illegal Units

The recent example of a dramatic rent increase in San Francisco may be less about loopholes in current housing laws and more about failing to consider all the implications of rushed legislation.

March 24, 2015 - Reuben Duarte

Groundbreaking for 'Plaza De Las Americas' Public Market Space in New York

New York City broke ground recently on the Plaza de Las Americas—a designed public space that will support market uses and pedestrian activity while replacing an existing roadway in the Washington Heights neighborhood.

March 24, 2015 - The Architect's Newspaper

Dallas Mulling Proposals for a Redesigned Fair Park

The future of Dallas is very much under consideration. Case in point: an effort to redesign and plan the 277 acres of Fair Park with the potential to offer improved public access to a critical area east of Downtown.

March 24, 2015 - The Dallas Morning News

MonkeyParking App Is Back—This Time It's Legal

The infamous MonkeyParking app that last year ran afoul of public sentiment and the law is back with a new business model that offers residents the chance to auction that most precious of commodities—urban parking space.

March 24, 2015 - San Francisco Magazine

Office Park

Tech Giants Bank on Growth, Acquire More Space

To provide room for long-term expansion, companies like Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn are buying up even more Bay Area real estate. Their flush cash reserves have them nudging out the traditional development and investment crowd.

March 24, 2015 - The Wall Street Journal

MBTA Struggles to Furnish Parking for Commuters

Boston commuters report frustrations with a lack of parking at stations along the system—so much so that they sometimes abandon hope of finding a spot or catching a train.

March 23, 2015 - The Boston Globe

Op-Ed: Austin a Shadow of its Former Self

An op-ed by David Heymann produces an elaborate, protracted metaphor of Austin as a former youthful "golden child" now showing the least attractive possible traits of middle age.

March 21, 2015 - Houston Chronicle

In Case You're Confused by the Two San Diego Climate Lawsuits

These are two similar lawsuits by environmental groups, one aimed at San Diego County, the other at the San Diego MPO, both based on CEQA and one also on SB 375. Enviros won both of them but only one will be heard by the California Supreme Court.

March 21, 2015 - U-T San Diego

Houston's downtown skyline

Houston May Decide to Fence Itself In

Houston isn't freezing over. But, after decades of unbridled, un-zoned development, a new mayor, new planning director, and a raft of civic activists are promoting a general plan for the famously laissez-faire city.

March 20, 2015 - The Architect's Newspaper

'Envision Utah' a National Model for Long-Range Planning

An article in Governing thoroughly examines the historic and contemporary efforts of planning in Utah—especially the success of the Envision Utah planning process.

March 20, 2015 - Governing

Study: South Los Angeles Fast Food Ban Didn't Cut the Fat

A fast food ban enacted in 2008 in an effort to curb obesity, diabetes, and other chronic health issues failed to achieve its well-intentioned goals, according to a new study by the RAND Corporation.

March 19, 2015 - RAND

Eastside Gold Line and Los Angeles skyline

Where Los Angeles Equals San Francisco's Density

Though the Los Angeles region is very dense, significant barriers to transit-oriented planning remain. Based on this analysis, the lack of a central urban core shouldn't be one of them.

March 19, 2015 - Medium

$6 Billion Master Planned Development Moving Forward in the East Bay

Concord, California is considering a trio of massive redevelopment proposals for the site of a former Navy weapons depot that could bring 12,000 homes and 6 million square feet of commercial development to the fringe of the East Bay Area.

March 19, 2015 - San Francisco Business Times

Surveying the Results of 150 Years of Persistent Growth in Atlanta

The American Institute of Architects will visit Atlanta this year, a month after the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. What should we know about the city as it exists today?

March 18, 2015 - Architect

Seoul, Korea

Death and Life in Seoul

A new article in the Journal of Planning Education and Research tests whether Jacob’s ideas ring true for predicting pedestrian vitality in Seoul.

March 18, 2015 - JPER

Traffic Jam

The Challenge of Redesigning an Accident-Prone Street

Philadelphia's Washington Avenue experienced 915 car crashes between 2010 and 2013. The city wants to minimize risk in its redesign, but lacks the space to install every suggested improvement.

March 18, 2015 - PlanPhilly

Hudson Yards

What Density-Phobia Gets Wrong

In her article, "What Champions of Urban Density Get Wrong," the Philadelphia Inquirer's Inga Saffron critiques attempts to increase urban population. This post responds to her work.

March 17, 2015 - Michael Lewyn

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.