The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline Project Moves Forward

This week Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas submitted permits to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build a 550-mile natural gas pipeline across three mid-Atlantic states.

September 22 - WRAL

Office Building

Why We're Not Meant to Live in Boring Cities

Features like blank street facades literally turn us off, decreasing mental stimulation and bringing on restlessness and stress. Research points to worrying consequences for people who find their city, well, boring.

September 22 - Aeon

Doggie Diner

The Coolest Structures in San Francisco: an Interview with John King

The urban design critic for the San Francisco Chronicle publishes a new book of 50 of his favorite San Francisco structures.

September 22 - KQED Public Radio

Moses and Jacobs: A Drama Fit for an Opera (Coming Soon to a Stage Near You)

Yes, the world of urban planning will soon get a star turn of epic proportions—as the focus of an opera currently in development and scheduled to debut in New York City in 2017.

September 22 - Governing

Study: 'Severely Cost-Burdened Renters' Could Increase 25 Percent

A study by Enterprise Community Partners and Harvard's Joint Center on Housing Studies includes dire predictions about the future of an already-deeply-troubled rental market.

September 22 - Bloomberg Business


Suburban Rowhouses

Visualizing the Housing Stock of American Cities

A simple chart allows an easy comparison between the varieties of housing that comprise the housing stock of U.S. cities.

September 22 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Fire

On the Altered Landscapes of the Wildfire West

The heightened intensity of wildfires in the Western United States, along with other human factors, are short-circuiting the natural processes of rebirth.

September 21 - The New York Times


Mercedes-Benz Developing Self-Driving Limousines

Manifesting predictions that many self-driving vehicles will serve as a new form of taxi service, Mercedes-Benz recently revealed some of its plans to develop a fleet of on-demand limousines.

September 21 - Quartz

Editorial Calls for the Gentrification of East New York

Unsurprisingly, an editorial titled "Gentrify East New York" provoked a strong response from the public.

September 21 - Crain's New York Business

Changes to Detroit's Foreclosure Auctions Disempower Homeowners and Tenants

A new law makes it impossible for property owners delinquent on their property taxes to bid in a foreclosure auction to keep their homes. Larger, commercial interests are benefitting from the change.

September 21 - CityLab

A Positive Fiscal and Land Use Analysis for St. Louis Riverfront Stadium Plans

A group of business students completed an analysis finding reasons to support a proposal to build an NFL stadium on the riverfront in St. Louis.

September 21 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The Case for an Oil Severance Tax

After Big Oil killed the oil reduction mandate in climate legislation and with a critical transportation bill stalled by anti-tax Republicans, Los Angeles Times political columnist George Skelton opines that taxing oil extraction could pay for roads.

September 21 - Los Angeles Times

Bronx Apartments

BLOG POST

The Economics of Rent Control

A simple explanation of why strict rent control reduces housing supply, and why moderate rent control does so to a much lesser extent.

September 21 - Michael Lewyn

San Francisco Street

FEATURE

Crises and Innovation Converge on San Francisco Planning Director John Rahaim's Watch

The latest installment of the Planners Across America series interviews John Rahaim, planning director for the City and County of San Francisco, about the heightened passions and perpetual controversies of planning in the City by the Bay.

September 21 - Josh Stephens

Debate: When Should California Switch to VMT to Measure Development Impacts?

In an effort to shift from car-centric planning and incentivize eco-friendly transportation options, California is revising the way it measures traffic impacts of development projects under its Environmental Quality Act.

September 21 - The Planning Report

Suburban Dead End

Poverty Less Rural Than 50 Years Ago

It used to be that the nation's rural areas suffered from the highest poverty rates. Today, nearly half of the American poor live in mid-sized counties.

September 21 - Pew Research Center

Welc_me to Fabulous Las Vegas

Chinese Bullet Train to Come to American Southwest

America's third planned high-speed rail line received good news on Sept. 17, by entering an agreement with China Railway Group to receive $100 million to start building the 230-mile line from Victorville, Calif. to Las Vegas.

September 20 - Engadget

Sunset Plaza

Is Tactical Urbanism a Thing?

A review of the book by Mike Lydon and Anthony Garcia asks the question. The answer is a clear "yes."

September 20 - California Planning & Development Report

Surveying the Academic Findings about Gentrification and Displacement

Gentrification is neither a quick nor an easy study—as many Planetizen readers know. But what has been discovered thus far, and what obstacles to more understanding need to be overcome?

September 20 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

San Fernando Valley Pushes Metro to Address Transit Needs

Built for industry and known for sprawl, the Valley has long preserved its suburban geography. Now that its population is close to 40 percent of the city of Los Angeles, area leaders are speaking up for mass transit.

September 20 - The Planning Report

Post News
Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

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.