The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
The Health of Cities Depends on Place-Based Development More than Big Projects
Cities take a physical form that either supports or is stressful to people outside of a moving vehicle or building. Witold Rybczynski, in his critique of New Urbanism, forgets that lesson.
New Seattle Bus Funding Initiative Addresses City-Suburb Split
It's a pattern seen as recently as two years ago in metro Atlanta: a crucial transit measure wins in the central city but dies in the more populous suburbs. The fix is to craft a city-only transit initiative—just what advocates in Seattle will do.
Will Portland's Updated Comprehensive Plan Allow More Multi-Family Zoning?
As Portland accepts comments for its Comprehensive Plan update, one writer asks why so much of the city's zoning prohibits multi-family housing—especially as the cost of rent has increased by double-digit percentages in the past year.
New AARP Study Finds Older Americans Redefining 'Livable'
"People in the United States are getting older. But increasingly, they don't want to live in some old folks' community," writes Sarah Goodyear. As the number of Americans over 65 grows, concepts like aging in place are gaining new pertinence.
Questioning the 'Wisdom of Crowds' in Minneapolis
In a familiar refrain for anyone who's lamented the veto power of NIMBYs or the added cost of citizen engagement events, one writer expresses concerned about a recent succession of developments shot down by community groups in the Twin Cities.
Downtown Dallas' Comeback Story
Downtown Dallas provides another example of the redemptive power of adaptive reuse. With the number of empty buildings declining every year and more ambitious projects on the way, is it safe to say Downtown Dallas is all the way back?
The Hudson Yards 'Quantified Community' Experiment
Undergirding the massive mix of uses and investments called Hudson Yards is an ambitious plan to gather and analyze data provided by the 65,000 people a day who make use of the facility.
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Interdisciplinarity and the Equitable City
On Urban-Think Tank, a design firm working at the intersection of architecture and urbanism to further environmental justice.
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Ecocity versus Duplicity
If certain elements of masterplanning are not carefully chosen—and their impacts not carefully explained to final decision makers—then there runs great risk that the cities we design from scratch perform worse than the cities we already have.
Detroit's Citizen Filmmakers Document 'One Day in Detroit'
Following a concept familiar from the 'One Day on Earth' documentary, a legion of citizen filmmakers spent April 26, 2014 documenting the many moments that mark the Detroit experience.
Should Urbanists Care Which Airline They Fly? These Two Programs Say Yes
Los Angeles County Planner Clement Lau examines how airline companies and other private sector businesses can help with the greening of communities.
California HSR: Banking on Cap and Trade, TIFIA, and More
One positive thing to be said about a project that's been declared on life support by even many of its supporters since a court ruling denied its chief funding source: the Calif. HSR Authority sure is resilient. New funding sources may keep it alive.
Riverfront Revitalization Rolls On in Pittsburgh
A recent article revisits the accomplishments of the Pittsburgh over the past 15 years in revitalizing the waterfronts of the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers.
Watch D.C.'s Surface Parking Lots and Unoccupied Buildings Disappear
The Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District recently released its State of Downtown report. Downtown D.C.'s transformation over the last two decades has created an incredible revenue generator for the city.
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Should Students Be Zoned Out?
Although suburbs with college campuses are often eager to zone out students, this sort of exclusionary zoning has its own negative side effects.
Secretary Foxx Talks Funding (and Possibly Tolling)
A recent article by Yonah Freemark details the policy agenda of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, the former mayor of Charlotte and successor of well-regarded Transportation Secretary Ray La Hood.
How Tall is Too Tall?
What is the best height to promote good urban living? It needs to be high to attain necessary density but not so high that it detracts from the quality of life, particularly for existing residents. In short, what is the Goldilocks height level?
How the Sharing Economy Brings Strangers Together
Sharing economy companies encourage personal interactions to improve customer satisfaction and trust among users.
Policy First; Then Technology
Civic leaders chime in on how policy should guide technology and smart cities initiatives.
How (and Where) NIMBY Zoning Regulations Stagnate the National Economy
Household formations and the tight mortgage market are one thing, but a recent article on Vox examines the role of zoning—and the NIMBYs that control it—in the housing market's stagnating influence on the national economy.
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
Tyler Technologies
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
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.
