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Open Letter to a Car-Addicted City
A car-dependant city is at the crossroads. Can Perth, Australia, or any driving addicted city for that matter, change tracks to a multi-modal city, where good urban design is valued and walking, biking, and public transport are inviting options?
Bus Rapid Transit Proposed for Queens to Rockaways Route
New York implemented bus rapid transit with the Select Bus Service, but has yet to develop the kind of busways found in Bogota or Guangzhou. Will a route in Queens deliver the full BRT experience?
Using Data to Plan for Equity
Denver’s Equity Atlas is a pioneering effort between private, public, and non-profit interests to visualize a variety of statistics for the Denver metro area.
Commute Nightmare Awaits Amtrak and New Jersey Transit Passengers
At best, it will take seven years to build the Amtrak Gateway tunnels, the replacement of Access to the Region's Core. If one of the existing two aging tunnels has to be shut to make repairs before the project is completed, commute nightmare ensues.
San Francisco Voters Increase Height Limits for Waterfront Development
Voters gave Forest City Enterprises' Pier 70 development the go-ahead on Tuesday by increasing height limits from 40 to 90 feet. The 65-acre property will be developed into mixed use, with 2,000 housing units, 30 percent affordable, and open space.
Scarecrows 2.0
A new Dutch invention uses lasers to scare birds away, intended to mitigate their interference with critical industries.
The Many Benefits of Traditional Development
Charles Marohn assesses some of the economic benefits of traditional commercial development as compared to those of auto-oriented commercial development.
Los Angeles Breaks Ground on Purple Line Subway Extension
The long awaited groundbreaking for work on Los Angeles’s Purple Line Extension commenced. The project is expected to open in 2023.
25-Cent Gas Tax Increase Proposed for New Jersey
New Jersey's transportation trust fund is so broke that by next fiscal year, all of it will go toward debt payments. Democratic Assembly Deputy Speaker John S. Wisniewski's legislation would increase the petroleum tax paid by gasoline distributors.
Detroit's Bankruptcy Exit Plan Approved
Federal judge Steven Rhodes approved Detroit’s plan to shed $7 billion of the total $18 billion debt.
The Rise of Memphis as a Cycling City
In 2009, Memphis was one of the worst cities for cycling, but it quickly reversed its course, becoming the most improved city for cycling according to Bicycling magazine in 2012.
Portland's Unique Tours Offer Insight Into Neighborhood History and Culture
A small non-profit in Portland, Oregon is attempting to provide neighborhood-based historic and cultural information for residents and tourists in specific, unique ways.
Why Developers Love Parks—the High Line in New York as an Example
The High Line is proving to be a powerful catalyst for development but the same can be true for nearly all parks (less perhaps the starchitect-designed projects near the High Line), explains former Empire State Development Corp VP Carol Berens.
How to Recover from a Poorly Attended Public Meeting
From the periphery, planning and community engagement seems easy. You schedule a few public meetings. You confer with a few experts and put together a plan for the future of a community. Easy? Nope.
Artisan Manufacturing Mixes Uses with Residential
Looking to integrate artisan manufacturing into a residential neighborhood? Berlin examples provide a few pointers, via Hazel Borys.
Brookings Study Maps Freight Traffic in the United States
A new report by the Brookings Institution "analyzes domestic and international goods trade data from 2010" toward the goal of better coordinating freight policies and investments between regions.
Rail Project on Chopping Block After Voters Reject Gas Tax Indexing
The rollback of gas tax indexing is projected to lose $1 billion for the Bay State over the next decade. Initiative proponents claim that the legislature can increase the gas tax anytime, though last year's tax increase was the first since 1991.
TransitScreen Provides Real Time Info in Downtown Seattle
A new service provides transit users live, real-time displays of all transportation options within proximity to various locations in downtown Seattle, Washington.
MARTA to Expand into Suburban Clayton County
After a ballot measure approved the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority's (MARTA) expansion into a suburban county outside of Atlanta, the transit agency could set precedent on how to effectively adapt to sprawling suburbs.
Friday Funny: Everywhere You Go, 'Brooklyn' Is There
You've probably heard the proclamation "The Next Brooklyn" more than once, from the New York Times of all things.
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.
