The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Creating a Community of Choice
The Mountain View neighborhood in Anchorage is described as the most diverse neighborhood in the U.S., becoming a model of neighborhood change and a community of choice thanks to the efforts of local leaders and many dedicated community residents.
Trulia Ranks the Best and Worst Neighborhoods for Renters to Park
The availability of parking can make or break opinions of neighborhoods, and renters are especially likely to be impacted by parking difficulties.
Tracking Cash-Only Real Estate Transactions
The U.S.Treasury Department will begin identifying and tracking secret buyers of high-end luxury real estate in Manhattan and Miami Dade County because of concerns about the illicit flow of money.
Friday Eye Candy: Google Streetview Tours the World's Largest Model Railway
After documenting places like the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and the vertical walls of El Capitan in Yosemite, the Google Streetview team thought small for its latest project.
FAST Act Missing from President Obama's Last State of the Union Address
President Obama's final State of the Union made no mention of the FAST Act—the first long term transportation reauthorization since SAFETEA-LU, which expired in 2009. It's omission baffled many high ranking leaders.
Massive Mixed Use Development Will Continue Tysons' Evolution
Tysons, long famous for its office-park dominated version of suburbia, just approved a massive project that furthers an ongoing, dramatic urban transformation outside of Washington, D.C.
Cautious Optimism in the Wake of COP21
With the historic climate agreement reached in Paris at COP21, what implications will it have on the architecture, engineering and design industries? Doggerel spoke to U.S. Green Building Council Chair-elect Fiona Cousins for her perspective.
Friday Funny: Parody Twitter Account Roasts the Transportation Research Board
The week has been marked by a steady stream of news about new research and ideas coming from the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. There to poke fun at it all was parody Twitter account @FakeTRB.
More Colorado Cities Banning Public Smoking
Something is missing from a lot of the walkable downtown business zones in cities around Colorado: tobacco smoke.
Seattle's New Light Rail Extension: On Time and Under Budget
Seattle, home to the most infamously bungled infrastructure projects in the country (the Bertha-blocked tunnel), has managed to do something rare for any city: complete a transit extension on-time and under-budget.
How Low Will Oil Prices Go?
Oil prices are now at a 12-year low. Prices have been very consistent this year: they have dropped every day. As they slide to going below $30 a barrel, service stations could be selling gasoline at $1 per gallon, a price not seen since 1999.
Three Big Planning Projects on the Way in Northern Virginia
Big things are expected from planners in Northern Virginia this year.
NYC's SoHo Gets a 'Noxious' Use
SoHo, a Manhattan neighborhood full of luxury apartments and a median income of $111,000/year, must accept a new facility that includes a garage for sanitation trucks. Why, and how will it test the city's commitment to infrastructure design?
Using Twitter to Better Understand Public Sentiment
By using the data provided by millions of Twitter users, two researchers discovered surprising insights into public sentiment in shrinking cities.
A View from the Twin Cities
Is MSP really "Greater"? A brief look at the Human Ecology of Minnesota's Twin Cities reveals tremendous upside along with numerous challenges
Michigan Governor Finds Himself at Center of Flint Water Crisis
A case is made that Gov. Rick Snyder's handling of the lead-tainted water in Flint, Michigan is analogous to former President George W. Bush's bungling of the crisis resulting after Hurricane Katrina touched-down on the Gulf coast in August 2005.
Study: BRT Lines Offer Significant Real Estate and Jobs Benefits
The real estate market has been transformed in cites that added bus rapid transit in the past decade, according to a new study presented this week at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting.
Thinking a Little Bigger About the Tiny House Thing
Can the tiny house fetish evolve to address real sustainability and affordable housing challenges? Ben Brown says yes.
FEATURE
Doing Well By Doing Good: Passive House and Affordable Housing
Pennsylvania finds proof that Passive House standards can be built at affordable housing prices, after the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency incorporated Passive House benchmarks into its Low Income Housing Tax Credit application.
BLOG POST
Which Suburbs Have Futures?
The suburbs most likely to prosper are those with wealth and/or walkability.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
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.
