The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Downtown Houston pedestrians

The Struggle for a Walkable Houston

Houston is fighting itself on walkability. While some build sidewalks and benches, parking minimums and outdated policies hold the city back.

July 5 - Urban Edge

Checking in With Development Plans on the '$5 Billion Mile' in Frisco, Texas

Dallas suburbs continue their development boom. The latest example comes from Frisco.

July 5 - The Dallas Morning News

Mt. Adams, Washington

Hidden Crisis: Homelessness on the Reservation

Poverty and evictions among Native Americans are an underreported part of the national homelessness crisis. Often, homeless families stay as long as they can in the dwellings of family and friends.

July 5 - The Guardian

Downtown Cleveland

Job Hubs as a Rust Belt Recovery Strategy

While cities in the "Rust Belt" have shown some signs of recovery, one worrying indicator is the large and growing distances between people and jobs. Clustering economic opportunity around job hubs could help.

July 5 - CityLab

Denver

Denver to Step Up Its Transit Game

Recent studies find that central Denver is still woefully underserved when it comes to transit accessibility. On the table are streetscape improvements to make life easier for pedestrians and transit riders.

July 5 - TransitCenter


San Bernardino Skyline

One Developer's Idea for Regional Housing Solutions in Southern California

New housing development is off to a slow start in Los Angeles in 2017. Although the city defeated an anti-growth ballot measure, LA is still faced with a number of policy and legal challenges to building an adequate supply of affordable housing.

July 5 - The Planning Report

Seattle

Changes in Store for Seattle's Design Review Program

Seattle's Design Review Program, in place since 1994, could see substantive changes in the near future.

July 5 - The Urbanist


Passaic River

New Tools for Affordability in New Jersey

The Regional Plan Association announced its support for a pair of efforts to create funding and development requirements for affordable housing.

July 5 - RPA Lab

Storage Tank

$3 Billion Natural Gas Pipeline Shelved in New England; Controversy Remains

Controversy seems to follow natural gas pipelines everywhere they go, including New England.

July 5 - The Boston Globe

Middle Georgia

Atlanta Developer Makes a Big Bet on Middle Georgia

Out of Atlanta, news of a massive change of pace for developer Loudermilk Companies.

July 5 - Bisnow Atlanta

Tuscany

Seattle Experiments With Fence-Free Sidewalk Cafés

Sidewalk-adjacent eating spaces generally separate diners from pedestrians. By using markers instead of fences, some Seattle eateries are opening their dining areas to the street.

July 4 - The Urbanist

Gondola Proposal Still Floating in D.C.

A proposed project to connect Rosslyn and Washington, D.C. by Gondola across the Potomac River still has support from the D.C. Council—enough support to fund an environmental study of the idea.

July 4 - Greater Greater Washington

Expo Line

Designing a Multi-Modal, User-Focused TOD Vision for Los Angeles' Expo Line

Facing explosive development interest around its Metro station, the small city of Culver on L.A.’s Westside is taking steps to shape its mobility future.

July 4 - The Planning Report

Palm Springs

U.S. Conference of Mayors Sets Target for 100 Percent Renewable Energy

The Annual Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors wrapped up in Miami Beach earlier this week, culminating with a display of climate change solidarity.

July 4 - CleanTechnica

Swale

A Floating Food Forest In New York City

New York's 'barge-to-table' floating farm gives city residents without access to farmland the opportunity to pick their own food.

July 4 - Modern Cities

Copenhagen Bikes

Looking at Copenhagen with Jealous Eyes

Copenhagen's positive attributes are clear, but how transferable are they?

July 3 - Common Edge

Tent City Bay Area

Homelessness a Growing Issue in San Francisco Suburbs

Across the nation, suburban homeless populations are growing. Many of these communities are unprepared to shelter or serve these growing populations.

July 3 - KQED

Bus Stop

Op-Ed: There Are No 'Captive' Transit Riders

Alex Baca argues that the dichotomy of "captive" versus "choice," while somewhat distasteful, is also incorrect. Transit can always stand to lose existing ridership through poor service.

July 3 - Greater Greater Washington

YIMBYs

Planning's New Rivalry: Housing Advocates vs. Radical Left

As the YIMBY movement has gained momentum in high-cost cities, advocates for social justice and subsidized housing have taken aim, claiming that YIMBY's pro-development stance aligns them with predatory capitalism and neoliberalism.

July 3 - California Planning & Development Report

Organic Agriculture

Can a 'New Ruralism' Save Small Towns?

Small towns are in crisis. To save them, it might take a "new ruralism" of community leadership, volunteerism, and ventures in the creative economy.

July 3 - ASLA The Dirt

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Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

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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.

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.