The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
The New Retirement Community Paradigm
After postponing home purchases during the recession, people over the age of 55 have been the first group to return to the home buying market.
Cities of Love: Paris, Boston, Venice, Quebéc City (and Buffalo?)
Spring brings out the romance in cities. Here's a bit of inspiration from Quebéc City...and Buffalo.
Minneapolis and New York City Top 2014 ParkScore Ratings
The third annual rating of cities ranks the access, size, and spending of parks in the 60 largest cities in the country.
Cities and Corporations Learn to Cooperate
Large companies are choosing cities rather than suburban office parks to locate. A recent article details how corporations can make the most of their urban environment.
BLOG POST
Gentrification and High Rents—Not Quite the Same Thing
Public concern about gentrification is based on fears that out-of-control rents are pricing out the middle and lower classes. But rent is rising even in places where gentrification is not happening.
California Fracking Moratorium Bill Dies; Proponents Vow to Press On
A high profile bill championed by California's environmental community that would have placed a moratorium on fracking and other well stimulation treatment and would have allowed more local control failed to get off the Senate floor on May 29 and 30.
Homelessness as a Watershed Issue in San Jose
San Jose's attractive urban waterways, especially Coyote Creek, house over 1200 people living in about 66 illicit encampments, all without sanitation. It's clear that clean water and housing needs are connected. What that means is up for debate.
Should NYC's Community Boards Have Term Limits?
Keith Williams reports on the longevity of some members of community boards in New York City. Critics say that the review capacity of the boards would best be served by increased turnover in membership.
Is Big City Growth Here to Stay?
In this opinion piece, Brookings demographer William H. Frey looks at three years of census data and discusses whether urban growth will stay through the decade or whether the U.S. will return to its traditional, post-War suburban growth patterns.
BLOG POST
Tall Tower Debates Could Use Less Dogma, Better Design
When it comes to tall buildings, there's a lot of dogma out there among urbanists, in both directions. Lets spend more time and attention on the quality of tower and neighbourhood design, rather than on how tall the buildings are.
BLOG POST
The Case for Neighborhood Bars...and Why Planning is Like Cooking
Beyond permits and specific plans, urban planning is the creation and facilitation of a user experience, where the neighborhood bar is an essential ingredient to the cohesiveness of a neighborhood.
Buy a Stamp—Patch a Highway?
This could have been our Friday Funny—but it's for real. House Republicans have suggested that reforming the United States Postal Service, such as ending Saturday delivery and other cost cutting could be used to shore-up the Highway Trust Fund
On the Unintended Consequences of Inclusionary Zoning
"Affordable housing policies have a long history of hurting the very people they are said to help," says Emily Washington, citing public housing and rent control as evidence. She would also add inclusionary zoning to the list of failed policies.
'May the Use Be With You': San Francisco and Chicago Wooing George Lucas's Museum
After a plan to locate a new museum for the film memorabilia of George Lucas at Crissy Field in the Presidio in San Francisco failed, the City by the Bay and the Windy City have entered competing proposals for the location of the museum.
How Street Performances Transform Public Spaces
A busking advocate blogs about the benefits of street performances in public spaces and the need to revisit street performance licenses and requirements.
Debate Intensifies Before EPA Releases New Rules for Power Plants
Both sides are coming out swinging, days before President Obama and EPA Administrator McCarthy release a long-awaited power plant rule on Monday. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a new report concluding the rule would cost $50 billion annually.
Ethiopian Youth Build Community Through Skateboarding
A sixteen-year old teaches skateboarding to low-income youth as a viable means of transportation and for community building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
California Updates Main Street Planning Guide
A newly revised guidebook by the California Department of Transportation describes how to plan and design highways and arterials that also serve as community commercial centers.
BLOG POST
Does Beauty Still Matter?
The design of urban landscapes has become dominated by a growing call for them to be ecologically resilient. But isn't it important what they look like?
Boom Times for New Orleans Park Construction
Katy Rechdahl describes a "dazzling" boom for New Orleans parks.
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.
