The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Income is How You Get Out of Poverty, Assets are How You Stay Out
In our work to build communities of opportunity where low-income people and people of color can thrive, we must acknowledge that income is how you get out of poverty, assets are how you stay out.
Op-Ed: Transportation Funding is Only One Part of a Fair Budget
A guest column on the Saporta Report offers a reminder of the many critical public needs that compete with transportation funding for state dollars.
Is the Waze Police-Tracking Feature a Threat to Public Safety?
The popular navigation app Waze includes a feature that rewards users for revealing the location of police officers. A debate over the public safety impacts of that feature is gaining traction, and some police officers want the feature removed.
SEPTA Tops for Women Transit Riders
An informal survey of transit ridership data reveals that Philadelphia's SEPTA has the highest percentage of women riders. But what does that data say about SEPTA and transit in general?
Local Revenue Funding More Bay Area Road Maintenance
The greater Bay Area is enjoying a substantial increase in road maintenance funding from local measures, like bonds, city and county sales taxes, and development fees, part of a growing trend in compensating for a shortage of state gas tax funds.
Obama Proposal would Close the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Drilling
Setting off a political firestorm in the words of one journalist, President Obama proposed to designate most of the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness, angering congressional Republicans.
FEATURE
City Planning Department Technology Benchmarking Survey 2015
The following report surveys the current state of Internet technology as employed by the planning departments of over 500 cities in the United States.
State Political Winds Turn Against Renewable Energy
Last fall's Republican victories might mean that state legislatures will turn back the clock on laws requiring renewable energy.
Private Planning Effort Spearheads Los Angeles River Bike Path Proposal
Looking for a way to connect the separate pieces of the bike path along the Los Angeles River, a local developer took planning and designing a new path into his own hands.
California Committee to Consider Road User Charge
Gov. Jerry Brown has an environmental goal that conflicts with an infrastructure goal: reducing oil consumption and raising funds to pay for deferred road needs. The solution may be the Road User Charge, which lies in the hands of a new committee.
How Parking Apps Could Shift the Parking Landscape
New apps have the potential to influence a fundamental shift in the political and physical realities of parking according to a recent Next City article.
Industrial Meets Residential in New Vancouver Zoning
Vancouver created its MX zone as a solution to a persistent challenge for planners—how to retain industrial jobs and affordable housing in downtowns.
A Better Future for Tampa's Trolley?
Tampa's TECO line streetcar system does not lack charm. What the historic streetcar does lack, however, is riders. Can HART transform the trolley into an integral part of a revitalized downtown?
Tent Cities Proposed for Homeless in Seattle
The mayor and City Council of Seattle will consider a controversial measure to combat its surging homeless population.
More Details on the End of Architecture for Humanity
Following the recent news that Architecture for Humanity shut its doors after operating since 1999, FastCo.Design provides more details about what went wrong.
Poll: Voters Remain Opposed To Raising State Gas Taxes
Notwithstanding plummeting gas prices, Keith Laing of The Hill reports on poll results that reveal an uphill battle for political leaders in Utah, Georgia, and New Jersey, who are advocating gas tax increases to fund roads, bridges, and transit.
Mapping the Demographic Future of Cities
Cities change. The people living in cities change. A new online tool from the Urban Institute allows users to forecast demographic trends as far out at 2030.
BLOG POST
Retrofitting Dead and Dying Suburban Malls: What Works?
Denver is a national leader in retrofitting the Great American Suburban Mall. But how well are these retrofits working? A comparative analysis of field reports by college-age Millennials offers some insight.
How Economic Crisis Inspired Grassroots Organizations in Greece
Citiscope examines the organizing and volunteer efforts of citizens in Athens, Greece in response to the country's economic crisis.
On New York's Shadow Transportation System: 'Dollar Vans'
The New Yorker has published an interactive feature in New York's shadow transit system—the network of so-called "dollar vans."
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.
