Land Use

Suburban Homes

What Is NIMBYism and How Do Affordable Housing Developers Respond to It?

NIMBYism is often expressed as concerns about crime, congestion, schools, property values, and “quality of life.” But when developments are built these fears rarely come to pass.

November 28, 2021 - Shelterforce Magazine

SoHo Broadway

Opinion: It's Time To Put People Ahead of Cars in SoHo

A proposal from SoHo Broadway Initiative aims to prioritize pedestrian and bike infrastructure and discourage car traffic to make the neighborhood safer and more comfortable for the people who live and work there.

November 26, 2021 - City Limits

The New York Public Library's stone lions Patience and Fortitude have donned face masks to remind New Yorkers to wear face coverings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Top Urban Planning Books of 2021

Planetizen's annual list of the top urban planning books of the year is here—maintaining a tradition that dates back to 2002.

November 26, 2021 - James Brasuell

Los Vaqueros Reservoir, Brentwood, California

Bay Area Looks To Expand Reservoir As Drought Deepens

The expansion of the Los Vaqueros Reservoir in Brentwood would increase storage capacity and create a more reliable water supply for Northern California communities.

November 24, 2021 - Mercury News

Water Works at Mill Ruins Park

New Minneapolis Park Connects City to the Mississippi River

The newly built Water Works Park and Pavilion incorporates elements of historic mills and provides amenities long absent from the city's waterfront.

November 24, 2021 - The Architect's Newspaper

Unofficial monument to 25 years of People's Park, Berkeley, California

A Fight For the Future of People's Park

Community groups are fighting a plan to build student housing in the historic People's Park.

November 24, 2021 - Mercury News

San Francisco, California

San Francisco Supes Reject Proposal To Turn Parking Lot Into Housing

State legislators are decrying the Board of Supervisors' decision to reject a proposal to build a 495-unit apartment building on a downtown San Francisco parking lot.

November 23, 2021 - San Francisco Chronicle

Single-Family Neighborhood

A Battle Brews Over Housing Density In Seattle

The newly elected Seattle City Council will take up the debate over single-family zoning in the city.

November 23, 2021 - Crosscut

View of the National Biscuit Company Building, 1850 Industrial Street, Los Angeles from the corner of Mateo Street. It has been renovated into lofts, with a restaurant on the ground floor.

Paper Series Sheds Light On Adaptive Reuse

A series of reports from Berkeley's Terner Center assess the potential of commercial-to-residential conversions to help ease the housing crisis.

November 23, 2021 - Terner Center for Housing Innovation

Empty Parking

Parking Reform Map Shows Which Cities Have Eliminated Parking Minimums

As part of #BlackFridayParking week, a crowd-sourced map tracks the growth of the parking reform movement in U.S. cities.

November 23, 2021 - Strong Towns Blog

British Columbia residential Neighborhoods

Vancouver's New Housing Plan Takes Shape

If its proposals are effectively implemented, Vancouver's new housing plan would promote 'missing middle housing' and increase density near jobs and transit.

November 22, 2021 - The Globe and Mail

Boeing Freeway

Jet Fuselage to Become Part of Seattle High-Rise

A Boeing 747 will serve as the atrium between two South Lake Union office buildings.

November 22, 2021 - The Seattle Times

Cranes rise into the sky on a construction site for an office and housing building for the Bouygues Group in the southern suburbs of Paris.

Could France's Approach to Combating NIMBYism Work in the United States?

France passed a law that required cities to have a certain percentage of social housing. Since then the country's most exclusionary cities and suburbs have seen a fivefold increase in the availability of social housing.

November 19, 2021 - Shelterforce Magazine

Gaslamp Quarter

San Diego Removes Some Commercial Parking Requirements

After approving parking reforms for swaths of residential areas in the city in 2019, the city of San Diego is expanding the effort to select commercial areas in the city.

November 18, 2021 - The San Diego Union-Tribune

San Francisco Bay Area

Opinion: To Meet Climate Goals, Bay Area Needs More Transit-Oriented Development

The region's transit-oriented development (TOD) plan requires a significant update to achieve the density and housing goals laid out in the MTC's 30-year vision.

November 18, 2021 - SPUR

George Floyd

The Racial Reckoning in Public Spaces

Following George Floyd’s murder in 2020, there was an explosion of anti-racist street art across the country. “When we allow ourselves to release our emotions, oftentimes what is produced out of that is art.”

November 18, 2021 - Shelterforce Magazine

Montgomery County

Land Costs and Housing Costs

One common argument against upzoning is that it increases land costs—but land costs rose in the most restrictive markets as well as the least restrictive ones.

November 18, 2021 - Michael Lewyn

Zoning Code Rendering

Which Cities Are Upzoning?

A recent study surveyed 800 jurisdictions in 50 U.S. metropolitan areas to quantify the amount of change in zoning regulations throughout the 21st century so far.

November 17, 2021 - Journal Of The American Planning Association

Solar and Wind Energy

Report: U.S. Renewable Energy Production Rising Sharply

The proportion of energy produced by renewable sources in the United States has almost quadrupled in the last decade.

November 17, 2021 - The Washington Post

Street signs at the intersection of Columbia Pike and Highland in Arlington, Virginia.

Arlington County Allows New Ground Level Uses

Arlington County is allowing land use flexibility on ground floors in the hopes of transforming the Columbia Park as more of a pedestrian-oriented "Main Street."

November 17, 2021 - Arlington County Government

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.

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.