Land Use

A Study in Texas New Urbanism

Terrain.org takes a look at Plum Creek, a New Urbanist development outside Austin, TX that added 1,400 households to a town that had only 4,000 people in the mid-1990s.

January 14, 2009 - Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments

Recycling the Suburbs?

The question is no longer how to improve the suburbs, says Allison Arieff, but what we're going to do with all the leftover buildings and unfinished sites.

January 13, 2009 - The New York Times

Entering the 'Maze of Zoning'

In Virginia Beach, VA, homeowner Herbert Harris was told that the wheelchair ramp and extra bedroom he was building for his wife and ill daughter needed building permits. Thus began a trip down the rabbit hole of the Board of Zoning Appeals.

January 13, 2009 - The Virginian-Pilot

City/Suburb Relationship Doesn't Have to Be Zero-Sum

The suburbs are stereotyped as homogeneous, boring, cookie-cutter communities. But suburbs are evolving, according to this column from Tom Condon. Their relationship with cities is also changing -- and it can be good for both.

January 13, 2009 - The Hartford Courant

A Year For City Ideas in Chicago

Chicago's 100-year anniversary of the Daniel Burnham city plan offers an opportunity to rethink how the city works and how it should look for the next 100, according to this piece from Blair Kamin.

January 13, 2009 - Chicago Tribune

Liverpool's Transformative Year of Culture

As Liverpool ends its year as the European Union's "Capital of Culture", the city is vastly different and better than it was just a year ago, according to this column.

January 11, 2009 - Financial Times

Bright Metro Futures Hinge on Transit

Creating transit, and planning around it, will be the key to success for metro areas, according to a new report from New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

January 11, 2009 - Citiwire

Portrait of a Commuter Town

A NY Times profile of Suffern, NY focuses on real estate, but in the process creates a miniature of the struggles of all small towns- keeping the historic downtown vibrant, offering varied housing options, and competing with neighboring cities.

January 10, 2009 - The New York Times

Location, Location, Location: Brought To You By GIS

A new GIS-based service promises to improve on real estate agents by using GIS data to locate promising sites to locate for business.

January 9, 2009 - BusinessWeek

People Who Live Alone Are Big Energy Wasters

A new study from SMR Research Corporation reveals that people who live alone use 18% more energy than two-person households, and 30% more than three-person homes. McMansions are, or course, cited as big wasters.

January 9, 2009 - The Ground Floor

Skyscraper Farms, Agriculture for the Future?

Thirty-story buildings used for crop-growing is a good idea on paper, but the challenges still outweigh the benefits.

January 8, 2009 - The Christian Science Monitor

Living at the Mall - Not Just a Figure of Speech

What comes next for the doomed, enclosed mall across America? This article highlights a number of solutions, including an adaptive reuse model that incorporates housing units inside the mall itself.

January 8, 2009 - HousingWire

Oregon UGB Expanded

Bend, Oregon councilmembers took no more than five minutes to vote to expand the city's urban growth boundaries, adding nearly 9,000 acres of developable land to the city's map.

January 7, 2009 - KOHD

Obama Knows Jane Jacobs

Last summer in Toledo, former mayoral candidate Keith Wilkowski handed Barack Obama a book, saying it is the most important book about rebuilding cities. Obama responded, 'Is it Jane Jacobs?'

January 7, 2009 - BeyondDC

Cities and Cognitive Burnout

Compared to natural settings, busy urban environments can be detrimental to cognitive functioning and self-control. Well-designed, biodiverse parks are integral to counterbalancing the concrete jungle.

January 7, 2009 - The Boston Globe

Inauguration Puts D.C. in Crowd Control Mode

The city of Washington D.C. is trying to get ready for the Presidential Inauguration -- likely to be the largest gathering of people in U.S. history.

January 6, 2009 - Governing

The End of the Age of McMansions

Fewer teardowns and new home starts back up the perception that the age of the McMansion is coming to an end.

January 6, 2009 - The Christian Science Monitor

Top Planning Issues Of 2008

January 1, 2009 - Abhijeet Chavan

California's Biggest Land Use Story Is Not The Housing Market

The deepening of the housing market crisis is certainly a big deal in California. But the land use story of the year was the Legislature's passage of a measure mandating regional planning.

January 1, 2009 - California Planning & Development Report

Obama Plan: Stimulating The Economy Or Sprawl?

Obama has compared the size of the stimulus package he wants to the 1956 National Highway Act. If the states have their way, it may be just that -- a new highway bill with little left for transit.

December 31, 2008 - Bloomberg

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.

Home and Land Services Coordinator

Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners

Associate/Senior Planner

Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development

Senior Planner

Heyer Gruel & Associates PA

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.