Land Use
Los Angeles' Smart Growth Saga
The city is working hard to increase density, but with Angelenos firmly attached to their cars and the region's transit moving at a snail's pace, can smart growth really work in L.A.?
Smart Growth Leaders Still Living Low Density American Dream
While encouraging the city's residents to embrace higher densities and public transit, many of Los Angeles's smart growth advocates live in single family homes and commute long distances in cars.
Sprawling? See You in Court!
Citing the threat posed by climate change, the State Attorney General of California Jerry Brown has filed suit against a community for failing to rein in sprawl.
Oregon's Land Use Laws Haven't Depressed Land Prices
Research by economists at Oregon State University shows that the state's land prices have not been impacted by its strong planning system and land-use regulations.
Integrating The Farm With The City
The idea of linking agriculture and smart growth is gaining ground in California's booming rural areas.
Turning Shuttered School Sites Into New Homes
Forced to close schools due to shrinking enrollment, a Detroit suburb is selling its surplus schools to housing developers in hopes that children from new families will prop up remaining schools in the community.
Sydney's Mayor: 'Environmental Crisis Looms Large'
The Lord Mayor of Sydney has used very blunt language to characterize the city's future, yet planning to counter anticipated problems is still in the early stages.
California Needs To Follow Sacramento's Regional Planning Model
A recent editorial argues that the successful model of regional planning in the Sacramento region known as the "Blueprint" provides an alternative to sprawl that needs to be applied statewide, and identifies current state legislation to do just that.
Transportation Expert Urges Napa To Support Higher Densities To Reduce Global Warming
Transportation expert Reid Ewing appeared in Napa to tout higher densities and mixed-use development. The county is updating it transportation plan and considering a second attempt to pass a transportation sales tax measure.
Easing Development Approval By Changing Zoning
Revised zoning laws in the town of Amesbury, Massachusetts, look to finally get some development on long-ignored land by making it easier for developers to gain approval from planners.
Study: New Jersey Could Reach 'Build-Out' In 50 Years Or Less
New report shows about 15,000 acres are lost to development each year in the Garden State. Much of the development has occurred within the coastal counties.
Planning For The Afterlife
Most cities and planners seem unprepared to deal with the land use issues surrounding the nation's burgeoning cemeteries.
Rezoning For An Aging Suburban Population
The first issue of a new journal on aging features a discussion on planning and rezoning of a suburb in response to the desires of an aging suburban population for a walkable community with mixed use and better transit services.
Urban Parks: For Nature Or People?
After a devastating fire, competing visions emerge for restoring Los Angeles' Griffith Park, one of the largest urban parks in the nation.
California Farmland Mitigation Policies Grow
Cities and counties in California's Central Valley are starting to adopt policies to offset the development of farmland. The new policies require developers to fund or purchase agricultural conservation easements.
The Battle Over Gated Greenspace
Communities are stepping up measures to prevent developments from fencing in public areas. The new round of protests comes as the amount of open land in the U.S. is shrinking.
After Kelo: New Challenges To Eminent Domain Abuse
New Kelo-fighting measures make their way to ballots.
Running A Better Public Meeting
If public participation is a goal, local government should work harder to make public hearings more user-friendly.
Denver's Transit Plan Fertilizing Neighborhoods For Density
FasTracks, the Denver metro area's plan to add over 100 miles of rail service, is forcing once suburban communities to consider higher density development.
Vancouver To Atlanta: 'Congestion Is Our Friend'
In their annual trip to cities that work better than theirs does, Atlanta leaders visit Vancouver to see first-hand the benefits of density, transit and regional planning.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
