Land Use
Effort to Reduce Food Deserts Finds Spring of Success in Chicago
Chicago has good news to report in its battle to improve access to fresh healthy food. Since Rahm Emanuel became mayor more than two years ago, the number of residents living in food deserts has declined by 21 percent.
This is What Downtown Looks Like When Your Employees All Live in the Suburbs
In bright reds and oranges, a map produced by Data Driven Detroit makes clear how much the city has suffered from decades of suburban flight. Nearly every block of downtown features substantial parking, including a stunning amount of surface lots.
CA Redevelopment Bill: Communist Land Grab or Catalyst for Affordable Housing?
Amid political demagoguery, a bill to help spur infill redevelopment and the creation of affordable housing in California, following the dismantling the state's redevelopment agencies, is advancing through the California legislature.
Walkability, But Hold the Red Tape
Urbanists must adopt less bureaucratic approaches so that the next generation can build and grow the economy, Andres Duany says. Hence the proliferation of “lean” codes that emphasize only the essentials of shaping community.
Does Seaside Deserve a Rethink?
Often forgotten amid the Truman Show jokes and architectural disdain are the iconic New Urbanist community's contributions to planning history, and its many innovations. Two new works are helping to reframe how the Florida town is understood.
Community Gardening Program Feeds Those Hungry for Improving San Jose's Poor Neighborhoods
San Jose's Garden to Table program is just one of several initiatives led by CommUniverCity that are collectively giving disadvantaged residents the tools to improve their personal health and the health of their communities.
Will Short-Term 'Failure' Lead to Long-Term Success of St. Louis Ballpark Village?
Last week the St. Louis Cardinals heralded the opening of a surface parking lot as a 'milestone' in the $650 million mixed-use development known as Ballpark Village. For Alderman Scott Ogilvie the lot represents the 'total failure' of the project.
Streetmix Socializes Street Design
OK, so we missed this relaunch for our just-published list of the Top Websites. Another remarkable venture from the fellows at civic tech leader Code for America, Streeetmix is an impressively user-friendly and attractive tool for designing streets.
Is the Small Family Farm a Thing of the Past? The Answer May Surprise You
A new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service tracks trends in the size and production of the country's farms. Even though the size of the average farm has steadily increased, "there are more small farms than ever."
To Control Health Costs, Build Sidewalks
Each month new research emerges linking public health with the built environment. Yet just a small fraction of healthcare spending goes toward reducing our exposure to unhealthy environments. Under the Affordable Care Act, that could soon change.
Lessons From a Model Mixed-Income Community
25 years ago, the conversion of 1950's era public housing into a mixed-income community on Columbia Point in Boston provided the template for the federal government's Hope VI program. How has this seminal project withstood the test of time?
Upward Mobility Correlates to Walk Score
New data supports Paul Krugman's contention that sprawl inhibits the American Dream.
Study Details SFpark's Surprising Results
The preliminary results are in for America's most ambitious experiment in demand-based parking pricing. Among the surprises: the average price at the spaces participating in San Francisco's pioneering program actually declined by 1 percent.
Crowdsourced Project Turns British Streets Into Massive Art Gallery
At 22,000 sites across the United Kingdom, space normally reserved for billboards and poster advertisements will become frames for great works of art. For the Art Everywhere project, the public played curator and donated online to help pay the costs.
Lessons for Building a Better City After a Devastating Disaster
With climate change producing more extreme weather, the likelihood of a natural disaster impacting the world's cities is on the rise. New members of the 'disaster club' can look to these three places for lessons for turning tragedy into opportunity.
Mass Deaths Indicate Marine Ecosystem in Distress
The deaths of hundreds of pelicans, dolphins and manatees across Florida's Indian River estuary - 'one of the richest marine ecosystems in the continental United States' - have scientists concerned, and wondering if rapid urbanization is to blame.
Striving for Attainable Infill Housing in Arkansas
Willow Bend is a new, nonprofit development planned for an ecologically rich, 7.6-acre infill site in the Walker Park neighborhood of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The project is envisioned as a replicable model of sustainable and attainable housing.
Can Biking Build a Bridge to Transit in Birmingham?
Urban areas across the country have identified bikes as a fat-burning, congesting-decreasing, transit-supporting alternative to automobiles. And Birmingham – despite a need for all these benefits – has lagged tremendously behind.
Play Dismay: Traffic and the Epidemic of Cloistered Children
Sarah Goodyear examines the connection between the way we design our streets and the reluctance of parents to let their children play outdoors.
Ft. Belvoir a Model for U.S. Military's Mixed-Use Mission
As the U.S. military infuses smart growth principles into the planning for its bases, leaders can learn from one facility located south of Washington, DC that's been able to accommodate dramatic growth with smart planning and innovative initiatives.
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.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Portland
City of Laramie
