The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
North Carolina DOT to Consider Fees for Developers, Billboard Companies
One of the arguments against sprawl and its variety of manifestations is the large amount of public subsidies, for private benefit, required to make it work. North Carolina will consider a small step in ending the free ride.
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When Nuisance Suits Are a Nuisance
In one Texas case, homeowners are suing a new apartment building for nuisance. If such suits become common, infill development will become less common, causing higher rents and more citywide vehicle traffic.
Downtown Denver Converts 18th Street to Two-Way Traffic
Efforts to reshape Downtown Denver to complement the recently re-opened Union Station have now taken to the streets.
Why Self-Driving Buses Hold More Potential than Self-Driving Cars
An article by Greg Lindsay and Anthony Townsend takes the shine off of self-driving cars and identifies a preferable avenue for autonomous vehicle technology: buses.
How Affordable Housing Can Compete
With the backing of powerful nonprofit and for-profit investors, the Housing Partnership Equity Trust is making waves with its triple bottom line approach to affordable housing. More importantly, it’s making money.
Two Proposed San Jose BART Stations on the Chopping Block
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) officials have sparked a controversy after announcing that they are likely to cut two of the four proposed stations, one in San Jose and one in Santa Clara, from BART extension plans.
Cities Don't Have to Damage Hearing
Henry Grabar writes of the movement to design better sounds for urban environments.
The Twin Cities Offer Free Election Day Transit—Does it Matter?
There is little, or no, evidence that offering free transit on election day improves voter turnout. Today the Twin Cities will do it anyway for the sake of, hopefully, improving the democratic process.
Drilling Bans on Three California County Ballots Today
San Benito and Santa Barbara County voters will decide on fracking ban measures on Tuesday that go beyond the controversial extraction technology by including acidization and "steam flooding." Mendocino County will also have a fracking ban measure.
Irony and Inevitability: Stumbling Toward Accountable Public Policy
U.S. politics are "...beginning to sound like a mash-up of Greek tragedy and Groundhog Day. All hubris and irony, over and over again. But the pragmatism required in cities and states is starting to look like an exit strategy."
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Explaining the Country's Worst Rental Market
A recent study reveals that Los Angeles is the least affordable city in the country. The incentives of homeowners all but ensure that the city will never have a mandate to increase its housing supply and restore health to the city's economy.
Small Cities Booming Near Washington D.C.
"Mini D.C.s" provide the successful examples of revitalized, walkable urban places, according to a recent trend piece in the Washington Post.
Ohio Takes Two Steps Back on Energy
"After a few years of progress, a new national ranking of state energy efficiency policies confirms that Ohio is now falling fast behind competing states," reports David Beach.
'Open by Default': Louisville Opens Data to the Public
Louisville has shown leadership in the open data movement by doubling the amount of data it shares with the public in the past year.
Height Limits as a Catalyst for Development
Charles Marohn proposes height limits as a catalyst for development. Yes, you read that correctly.
Signs of Recovery? Stockton, California Exits Bankruptcy
Stockton, California symbolized the worst effects of the Great Recession on local governments—not to mention, to some, California's decline.
America's Crumbling Water Infrastructure
The country's aging water infrastructure is growing more wasteful and expensive to fix with every year. What will it take to re-engineer our drinking water supplies?
Disney's Political Donations Increase as Anaheim Considers a Streetcar
Disney says its supports pro-business candidates for City Council in Anaheim, but some see a proposed streetcar as the connection behind an uptick in the company's local political support.
Campaign 2014: Controversial Conservation Ballot in North Dakota
Should the state dedicate five percent of its substantial oil and natural gas taxes to conservation efforts? Outdoors groups, hunters, and environmental activists say yes; energy companies say no, and millions of dollars are being spent on each side.
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Is America's Civic Architecture Inherently Racist?
It's a provocative and rage-inducing question, but a potentially useful one for promoting discussion about the cross-cultural meaning of public space.
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.
