Over 2,223 articles covering 37 years of planning issues in the West now available online for free.
The Western Planner (WP) has launched a new free comprehensive online resource this month, making available over 2,223 articles covering 37 years of planning issues in the West!
Created in 1979, the WP, a nonprofit, provides information and education about the unique aspects of planning in the West. As part of that effort, the WP has published a journal since 1980. The articles have been written by hundreds of different authors, mostly by practicing planners residing in 31 different states, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces.
This new online resource allows researchers to search by date, keyword, state, and author. Every print issue of WP ever produced, 276 in all, are available. Check out the very first issue in 1980.
In 2017, the WP became a free online publication, and those articles are available too. Visit https://www.westernplanner.org.
Read the full story: The Western Planner Archives
Remembering Neal Peirce
He was ahead of his time as a journalist, an urban thinker—and even as an entrepreneur who foreshadowed today's nonprofit news web sites.
Everything you Need to Know from the APA’s 2026 Trend Report for Planners
Plus, a conversation with the APA’s Chief Foresight and Knowledge Officer, Petra Hurtado.
Will Urban Planners Lose Their Jobs to AI?
Let’s see what the data says.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
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