The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Orange County Retooling Bus Service to Reverse Transit Declines
Orange County provides the latest development in the ongoing experiment with transit in Southern California, hoping that a high-frequency bus grid can reverse slumping ridership numbers.
Mobile Apps Provide the Ultimate Guide to Los Angeles
Get this guide for 21 apps and services for enjoying the city of Los Angeles to its fullest, whether you're a resident or a visitor.
Could This Heating Technology Revolutionize the U.S. Market?
Michelle Robb, Director of Product Planning at Mitsubishi spoke to Alex Ulam about VRF, or air source heat pump technology, and how it can fit into the American built environment context.
BLOG POST
Problems With Economic Impact Analysis: Examples From Base Communities
Guest blogger Joshua Drucker discusses his new research critiquing current practices in economic impact analysis.
Thriving from the Center: Freeing Urban Innovation from Ideology
Today's civic challenges are not unique in their need for balanced, accountable, and equitable solutions, requiring a combination of mindful reforms with sincere hope for more egalitarian prosperity.
Toronto Planners Shopping Massive Transit Plans
What's being described as an unprecedented outreach program will gather public feedback on a total of seven provincial and city-led transit projects for the Toronto area.
Can a New Master Plan Fix What Ails São Paulo, Brazil?
Facing an ever expanding shortage of affordable housing and growing inequality, São Paulo's new master plan hopes to change the face of the city.
California's New Guidelines for Cell Towers Upends Planning Process
California Assembly Bill AB 57 has tied the hands of local governments in reviewing the location of new cell towers, bypassing normal environmental and public review procedures.
How Antonin Scalia's Death May Affect the Paris Climate Accord
Scalia's death means that the Supreme Court is left with eight remaining judges. In the case of a tie vote, the decision from a lower court is upheld with some restrictions. A tie vote on the Clean Power Plan may be good news for the environment.
Cheap Gas Affecting Amtrak's Bottom Line
Amtrak will be forced to make cuts of almost 4 percent, due primarily to low gasoline prices.
FEATURE
GE and Industry's Return to the City
GE recently made the blockbuster decision to move its corporate headquarters to Boston. More than just another example of a company returning to an urban area, the move shows how a city like Boston benefits the kind of company GE wants to become.
BLOG POST
Retail Parking: A View from Google Earth
Google Earth can be a useful tool for understanding how parking is being used in your community and to identify where over- or under-utilization occurs.
The Bay Area's Coming 'Freeway Revolution'
This will not be a revolution against freeways, as some may have hoped, but a revolution marked by new express lanes totaling 550 miles, beginning with a new stretch of 14 miles on I-580 through Dublin, Pleasanton, and Livermore in the East Bay.
Slow Express Lanes Causes L.A. County Metro to Tinker With Toll Pricing
As more solo-commuters have moved into the express pay lanes designed to quickly move traffic on Los Angeles's congested freeway system, speeds have dropped and L.A. Metro officials are looking to pricing disincentives to speed things up again.
Urban and Suburban Poverty: The Changing Geography of Disadvantage
After two recessions that limped into slow and uneven economic recoveries, the number of people living below the federal poverty line rose to record levels. The suburbanization of poverty reflects shifting housing and labor markets.
New Study Looks at the Mystery and Benefits of Food Truck Movements
The seemingly non-complex decisions on where food trucks park is examined in a new study that finds there's actually a lot more to it than just an empty curb.
North Dakota's Oil Boom Falters
As oil prices dip to around $30 a barrel, fears are setting in that North Dakota's oil fields have been overdeveloped. If the current boom goes bust, these towns might find themselves nearly empty.
San Diego's Bold New Plan for Downtown Cyclists and Walkers
San Diego's downtown, dominated by 3-lane one-way streets engineered to maximize car velocity and traffic flow, may be getting redesigned to make it hospitable for bicyclists and pedestrians.
How the Built Environment Shapes Music
From Motown to grunge, techno to hip hop, modern music came to life in garages, living rooms, churches, and warehouses. Urban design has been instrumental to what we listen to every day.
Study: High Occupancy Toll Lanes Slow Traffic in Adjacent Free Lanes
HOT lanes are supposed to not only speed traffic flow for paying solo motorists in the carpool lane, but improve traffic flow in the adjacent free lanes, according to theory. A new study on express toll lanes in Seattle disproved that last part.
planning NEXT
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
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.
