A recent study studying the contemporary planning profession's rejection of the cul-de-sac includes a proposal to create more economic disincentives for inefficient street grid patterns.
Kim Hart writes: "The cul-de-sac has been a staple of urban development — and families' real estate wish lists — for the last 50 years. Now some cities are banning them from new developments."
Hart surveys a few recent studies an articles digging into the detrimental effects of cul-de-sacs. A study titled "Global trends toward urban street-network sprawl," published in January by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, documented the ways planners around the world are encouraging denser street grids. A "cul-de-tax" is one of the solutions mentioned in the study.
Read the full story: Why city planners are killing the cul-de-sac
How to Define the Suburban: HUD Survey Sheds New Light
A new HUD survey could help change the way the federal government defines the "suburban"—a notoriously tricky proposition.
Satellite Imagery of a Decade's Transformation
Trends in land use and development are made obvious with satellite imagery tracking changes during the 2010s.
Uniform By Design: The Similarities of Suburbs
A Vox video digs into the history of how suburbs came to resemble each other.
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.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
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.
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
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority