Enabling local affections involves hard work from individuals, locally embedded institutions, a built environment scaled to people, and community-focused habits and practices.
Ever since our country was founded, moving has been in our collective DNA. Every year, 30 million Americans move, and we do so for all kinds of reasons—to get an education, to be closer to (or farther from) family, to be nearer to cultural amenities, and (most often) for a job. And although economists laud our incessant mobility as good for national prosperity, critics are increasingly worried about our apparent inability to be in place.
Rather than lament our national restlessness, Melody Warnick sets out to help nomads like herself in her new book, This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live. The wife of an itinerant professor, Warnick has certainly contributed to the statistics on moving herself—her recent move to Blacksburg, VA was number six for her family. But instead of succumbing to loneliness and fatigue, as can be the case with any new move to an unknown place, Warnick decides to not just to get to know her community but to learn how to care for it.
FULL STORY: The Emergence of Place Attachment A Review of Melody's Warnick's "This is Where You Belong"

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
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Defunct Pittsburgh Power Plant to Become Residential Tower
A decommissioned steam heat plant will be redeveloped into almost 100 affordable housing units.

Trump Prompts Restructuring of Transportation Research Board in “Unprecedented Overreach”
The TRB has eliminated more than half of its committees including those focused on climate, equity, and cities.

Amtrak Rolls Out New Orleans to Alabama “Mardi Gras” Train
The new service will operate morning and evening departures between Mobile and New Orleans.
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.
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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
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