Land Use

Belden Place

Four Cities Making the Most of Alley Spaces

Urbanful examines four cities making the most of scare public spaces by reactivating their alleys with programming and pedestrian-friendly designs.

December 30, 2014 - Urbanful

A Model Plan for Greening Suburban Downtowns

F. Kaid Benfield provides analysis of the Bethesda Downtown Plan, calling the plan for the bustling Maryland suburb an opportunity to set a standard of urban sustainability for other communities.

December 30, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Op-Ed: Time for the Bay Area to Embrace Regional Planning

An op-ed by the San Francisco Chronicle's editorial board takes cues from London's regional transportation planning efforts in an argument supporting regional planning for the San Francisco-San Jose Bay Area.

December 29, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle

nearmap

An Aerial Photography Tool for Planners

File under tools for the tool kit: Jarrett Walker of Human Transit shares details about Nearmap, an aerial photography tool that serves as a helpful alternative to Google Earth.

December 29, 2014 - Human Transit

Can a 32-Acre Mixed-Use Development Block an Oil-By-Rail Facility in Time?

Environmentalists and developers are in a race against time to prevent a proposed oil-by-rail facility in Vancouver, Washington.

December 29, 2014 - New York Times

Op-Ed: Christie Administration Hobbles Affordable Housing

The Mount Laurel doctrine, as its known, has been a constant sticking point for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's administration. The New York Times editorial board suggests that the court must take control of affordable housing.

December 28, 2014 - New York Times

Planning and Design: North Pole Edition

In the realm of supply chains and distribution logistics, Santa’s the guy. So you’d presumably be safe in assuming that the planning and design of his village at the North Pole would reflect a similar insistence on best practices. But is it so?

December 25, 2014 - PlaceShakers

Billings, Montana (Pop. 109,058) Planning for Growth

Mike Ferguson reports on the process of updating the growth plan—working title "Beyond Billings"—for the city of Billings, Montana.

December 23, 2014 - Billings Gazette

Op-Ed: Put Chicago on a Road Diet

"The city should consider road diets for all streets with excess car capacity, although they're not always politically easy," writes John Greenfield.

December 23, 2014 - Crain's Chicago Business

Washington D.C. Announces 'parkDC'—Value Pricing—for Downtown

Washington D.C. is ready for a change in parking policy. The District Department of Transportation announced plans, so far mostly conceptual, to launch the parkDC value pricing system next summer.

December 21, 2014 - The Washington Post

New Mayor, New Agenda for the Port City of Long Beach

Recently elected Mayor of Long Beach Robert Garcia, 37 years old, outlines his priorities: education, climate change, and economic development.

December 19, 2014 - The Planning Report

Arlington Virginia

Urban vs. Suburban: The Debate Continues

However your read the tea leaves, if it's true the 'burbs are reinventing themselves in the new era, it’s walkable, compact urbanism that's providing a game plan.

December 18, 2014 - PlaceShakers

It's A Wonderful Life

The Most Popular Planetizen Posts of 2014

We've been collecting data on the posts you made the most popular for the year 2014.

December 18, 2014 - James Brasuell

New Designs Revealed for $50 Million Renovation of Minneapolis' Nicollet Mall

The public recently got a first look at a new design proposal from James Corner Field Operations for the $50 million improvement of Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis.

December 17, 2014 - MinnPost

Mapping the Locavore's Food Supply

FiveThirtyEight and ESPN recently produced a short documentary about the creators of Falling Fruit—a website that maps food sources in cities around the world.

December 17, 2014 - FiveThirtyEight

March for Environmental Justice

Dumping in Dixie and the Inequity of Place

Only by better addressing issues of inequity can we create truly sustainable and livable communities. But is that even possible today?

December 15, 2014 - Mark Hough

Growing Suburbs for the Good for the World

The Economist has published a pair of feature articles examining the growth of suburbs around the world in the hopes of avoiding the mistakes of the West.

December 11, 2014 - The Economist

Revealed: $400 Million Mixed-Use Development Adjacent to Cobb County Baseball Stadium

The Atlanta Braves Major league Baseball team made a splash last year by deciding to decamp to suburban Cobb County for a new ballpark. Still to be determined: Can the new ballpark spur development and integrate into the community?

December 11, 2014 - Atlanta Journal Constitution

Park Supporters Win Funding Victory on Cincinnati's Waterfront

Ruoxi Yang reports on the progress on Price Landing, "an integral piece of the overall western riverfront vision" for Cincinnati. Supporters of Price Landing plan hope that their proposal will permanently prevent the development of industrial uses.

December 10, 2014 - Urban Cincy

Paris Expands Big Car Reduction Plans

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo made a game-changing announcement in the name of clean air and walkability

December 9, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

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.