The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

LED Lights

LEDs Are Worth 160 Coal Plants

Some hate the way LEDs light up the public realm, but if you're trying to reduce carbon emissions, it's impossible to ignore the achievements of LED light bulbs.

January 9 - Quartz

Maryland Big Toll Lanes Project Moving Forward

Judging by the private-sector interest in a plan to expand Interstate 270 and the Capital Beltway in Maryland, the state won't have any trouble finding willing partners.

January 9 - Bethesda Magazine

California

The State of San Francisco

One of the most astute observers of San Francisco provides a list of notable architecture project to locate the city amidst all its ongoing controversies and challenges.

January 9 - San Francisco Chronicle

Gas Station

The Law Favors Gas Stations Over Redevelopment in Washington, D.C.

A lawsuit challenges a law in Washington, D.C. that prevents the conversion of full-service gas stations into any other kind of commercial or residential land use.

January 9 - WAMU

Hope VI Housing

The Long Wait for Section 8

It's hard to get Section 8 vouchers, and getting a voucher doesn't guarantee you'll find a place that will take them. Almost half of voucher recipients can't find a landlord who’ll accept them.

January 9 - Market Place (NPR)


Bike Lane

Baltimore Bike Backlash

The Roland Park Civic League is trying to get rid of bike lanes on Roland Avenue, arguing that they're dangerous.

January 9 - CBS

Metro Bus

D.C. Bus Ridership is Down. Time for a Redesign?

Bus ridership is down in the nation's capital. Some see the issue as an opportunity to better design the service to make dollars go further.

January 9 - Washington Post


New York Department of Sanitation

Private Garbage Collections a Deadly Business for Employees and Pedestrians

Tired drivers working long hours in damaged trucks makes private garbage collection a dangerous business.

January 8 - Pro Publica

Winter Transit

The East Coast's 'Bomb Cyclone' and Climate Change

When President Trump tweeted that the East Coast needed global warming due to the freezing cold, experts responded by explaining the difference between weather and climate. But climate change may indeed be a cause of the bomb cyclone.

January 8 - The New York Times - Climate

Oil Rig

Despite Bipartisan Opposition, Trump Administration Opens Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling

In a major blow to former President Obama's restrictions on offshore drilling in sensitive areas, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced that he would open the Outer Continental Shelf in four regions: Pacific, Arctic, Atlantic, and the Gulf Coast.

January 8 - The Washington Post

Cross-Laminated Timber

'Tall Timber' May Be the Future of Building

Mass timber is a major structural element of an increasing number of skyscrapers, according to a CTBUH survey; now, the fire codes just have to follow.

January 8 - The Architect's Newspaper

Scott Pruitt

Scott Pruitt and the 'Paradigm Shift' at Trump's EPA

In just his first year, the high-profile and controversial cabinet member “has begun to dismantle former president Barack Obama’s environmental legacy.”

January 8 - The Washington Post

Millennials in the Wild

Young Adults Aren't Fleeing Cities—Quite the Contrary

Joe Cortright presents the antidote to an emerging narrative about the shifting lifestyle preferences of young adults (i.e., Millennials).

January 8 - City Observatory

Portland

Tax Reform and the Housing Market

Curbed analysis of how local and regional housing markets will react to changes to the country's tax code.

January 8 - Curbed

Imperial Beach Border

Trump Administration Will Request $18 Billion for the Border Wall

New details are emerging regarding the Trump Administration's intentions for the long-promised wall between the United States and Mexico.

January 8 - The Daily Caller

Gentrification

Op-Ed: Time to Ditch the Old Data Used to Separate Gentrification From Displacement

Norman Oder asks readers to question the evidence traditionally cited in arguments that attempt to disprove displacement as a consequence of gentrification.

January 8 - Shelterforce

Rental Apartments

What Zoning Can and Can't Do

The powers, and the limitations, of zooming are explained in a series of posts on Greater Greater Washington.

January 8 - Greater Greater Washington

BART Station Construction

The State of Transit Construction in 2018

Though the Trump Administration isn't likely to be kind to public transit in 2018, it will be a big year for project opening anyway.

January 7 - theTransportPolitic

Metro Gold Line

Coming to L.A. Transit in 2018: Smartphone Fare Payment

Los Angeles is planning to join the ranks of cities that will allow transit fare payment by smartphone app. The scope of benefits offered by app-based fare payment is still under development.

January 7 - Curbed Los Angeles

Pope Mobile

Pope Francis Calls on Us to Be Better Drivers

Imagine all the people, driving safely and courteously.

January 7 - The New York Times

Post News
Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.

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.