Land Use

Schwarzenegger Favors Curbing Sprawl

Governor-elect of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger favors restoration of declining urban environments. His website criticizes "fiscally unsustainable sprawl" and promises new incentives revitalization of blighted areas.

November 11, 2003 - Orange County Register

Are Big-box Superstores The New Town Squares?

Malls have been replaced by big-box superstores as the new town square. How long will it be until they have to surrender control to people exercising their free-speech rights?

November 11, 2003 - LA Weekly

'Progress Is Just Another Word For Letting Builders Build'

In a "revolutionary action, anti-sprawl voters in Ann Arbor, MI, agree to a new tax to buy and preserve open space.

November 10, 2003 - The Detroit News

Portland Sues Over Walkway Access To Rail

Building owners block access to previously agreed upon easement.

November 9, 2003 - The Oregonian

Deer-Related Accidents Cost $1.1 Billion

Car collisions with deer are costing lives and money across America.

November 8, 2003 - Yahoo! Newswire

Sprawl And Wildfires

Sprawl around San Diego has put people in the path of wild fires.

November 7, 2003 - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Developers Belted In Ann Arbor

Voters easily pass an initiative to establish a greenbelt tax around the city.

November 7, 2003 - The Detroit News

America At Odds With Its Land?

An Indian columnist offers his perspective on California's fires and city-slicking deer.

November 6, 2003 - The Times Of India

Cleveland's Population Continues To Fall

Tom Bier discusses the imbalance between suburban construction and the region's growth and its implications for Cleveland's future.

November 5, 2003 - The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Atlanta Must Embrace Smart Growth

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorializes that zoning policies which encourage sprawl are eroding the region's quality of life.

November 4, 2003 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Cities Zoning Codes Favor Sprawl

A 'Growth Audit' examines zoning codes for 26 metro Atlanta cities and counties and found that the zoning codes favor sprawl.

November 4, 2003 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sprawl Without Borders

While spreading development around metropolitan areas, such as Washington, D.C. may be inevitable, the way it happens, as in this case, hardly benefits the folks who already live there.

November 3, 2003 - The Washington Post

The World's Largest Park

A proposal for a vast nature park in America's Great Plains could help revive economies in 10 states.

November 3, 2003 - International Herald Tribune

Historic Preservation Needed

As urban sprawl encroaches upon California's oldest wineries, owners are concerned about the future of their industry.

October 31, 2003 - The Baltimore Sun

The Backlash Against Smart Growth

Writing in Innovation Briefs, Ken Orski charges that the Smart Growth forces -- long basking in uncritical acclaim -- now find themselves on the defensive.

October 30, 2003 - Innovation Briefs

Planning for the Dead

As cemetaries all over the U.S. are running out of burial spaces, planners are faced with a sensitive challenge.

October 29, 2003 - The Chicago Tribune

New Standards Limit Look-alike Buildings

New Commercial buildings in Sarasota County can be similar to structures built else where in the U.S., but can only be reproduced one time within the County.

October 29, 2003 - Venice Gondolier

'Not In Your Backyard'

Connecticut residents find out that the hazards of suburban living include intrusive cell towers.

October 29, 2003 - The New York Times

Why Build In A Firebelt?

Why do Southern California planners and developers keep building in harm's way?

October 28, 2003 - The Los Angeles Times

California's Blazing Density (or Sprawl?) Problem

The state wrestles with age-old issues of growth amid some of the worst fires in history.

October 28, 2003 - The Christian Science Monitor

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.