The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Subsidizing High-End Housing for Middle-Class Renters
Using joint power authorities, local governments can purchase luxury buildings, avoid property taxes, and offer lower rents for qualifying tenants.
Highway Widening and Interchange Improvements a Headache for Atlanta Drivers
A road widening and interchange improvement project in Atlanta will have a dramatic impact on congestion for as much as a year.
Apartment Construction Ramps Up to Meet New Demand
It's unclear if or when the supply of entry level rental housing options will catch up with the demand, but some cities are building quickly.
How the Environmental Review Process Privileges Highway Construction Over Transit
U.S. transit projects have a much harder time getting environmental approval than road projects, perpetuating the dominance of cars in U.S. transportation policy.
Congressional Bills Could Hit Refresh on U.S. Dams
The 21st Century Dams Act, a proposal to remove four dams on the lower Snake River, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act all have a chance to redefine the country's approach to dams and watersheds.
Returning to a Wilder World
The pandemic induced an accidental 'rewilding' in many places as animals took over cities and streets devoid of humans. As we emerge from our isolation, can we co-exist peacefully?
Tight For-Sale Market Leads to Record Price Spikes in the Rental Market
A supply-demand imbalance in the for-sale housing market will eventually spill into the rental market.
A New Approach to Wildfire Resilience: Property Buy Backs, Fire Resistant Parks
The city of Paradise is employing a natural hazard mitigation strategy long practiced in flood zones. The idea could be expanded in other places where wildland meets human development.
FEATURE
Reparative Planning as Movement Building
The "Metro as Sanctuary" campaign provides an example of movement-based planning. This kind of planning is relational and solidaristic, with an emphasis on collective decision-making, complementary divisions of labor, and mutual learning.
How to End the Commute Nightmare
The pandemic let many people experience a commute-free lifestyle, but can we reduce rush-hour traffic as we make our return to physical workplaces?
D.C. Transit Implementing Major Changes, Hopes to Boost Ridership
Flat fares, reduced wait times, and extended late-night service are all part of a package of changes meant to bring riders back and adjust to post-pandemic travel patterns.
PLANOPEDIA
What Are Master Planned Communities?
Now frequently associated with retirees and sprawling developments in the U.S. Sun Belt, master planned communities, also known as new towns or planned communities, were invented as an escape from the haphazard growth of urban areas in the mid-20th century.
California Judge Renders Gig Worker Law Unenforceable
A judge ruled against California's Proposition 22, which let ride-hailing and delivery businesses classify workers as independent contractors and discouraged unionization efforts.
Comprehensive Planning Sucks. Here's One Attempt to Make It Better
Thirty community organizations have come together to deliver a response to Oakland's RFP for a comprehensive planning consultant. It's one of three proposals, but certainly the only one with cartoons.
Pneumatic Tube Trains and AVs to the Rescue? Smarter Planning for New Mobility
New mobility modes and services have tantalizing potential, but they can also impose significant costs and risks. We need objective and comprehensive analysis to determine how—and how not—to incorporate these new technologies.
Battle Over San Francisco's Pedestrianized 'Great Highway'
Although the project has been hugely successful with local residents, the mayor and some county supervisors wanted to revert the road to vehicle use.
'Grandfamily' Housing Fills a Need in the Housing Market
Grandfamily housing, as described by a recent article in The New York Times, is a kind of intergenerational housing model that caters to older Americans raising children.
Calculating Bus Stop Spacing for 43 U.S. Cities
New research documents the distance between bus stops in U.S. cities—a key question for service designers that determines a lot about the public transit user experience.
Statewide Zoning Reform Proposed in Minnesota
The proposed Comprehensive Housing Affordability Act would trade development fees for zoning relief.
When Infrastructure Investments Go Wrong
The United States has a near perfect track record of building the infrastructure it thinks it needs. But the country and its various state and local governments, don't always get the vision right.
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
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.
