The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
99-Cent Stores: the Weed of the Urban Commercial Environment
A proliferation of 99-cent stores in the Woodhaven neighborhood in Queens has strangled the commercial offerings in the neighborhood. But can residents or the local business improvement district do anything about the trend?
Making Room for Skyscrapers in the Jane Jacobs Debate
A Market Urbanism op-ed makes the case for high-rise neighborhoods as an integral part of successful cities—even if some Jacobs fans tend to overlook the benefits of such parts of town.
Older Oil Tank Rail Cars Face Three-Year Deadline to be Replaced
Following up on last month's emergency rule addressing trains speeds, the Transportation Department issued new rules addressing tanker car standards, long thought to be one of the most important factors contributing to fiery oil tank car explosions.
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Welcome To Our Neighborhood: A Manifesto for Inclusivity
Housing policy is not just about houses, it is also about people, and the determination of who may live in a community. We challenge communities to proclaim, “Yes in our backyard! We welcome new neighbors. We favor more diversity.”
How Capitalists View Cities
The Milken Institute Global Conference brought hoards of business leaders to Beverly Hills last week. Sessions included some high praise for cities and buoyant predictions about innovation, development, and accommodating six billion city-dwellers.
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How to Lead a Walking Tour
Leading a walking tour of your neighborhood can be easy if you focus on the basic differences between types of neighborhoods.
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Process and Outcome Best Practices: Interviews with Exemplary Planning Practitioners
Well known planning scholar and theorist Dr. Karen Christensen, from UC Berkeley, introduces her findings from a decade of interviews with exemplary planners in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Cancellation an Option as Costs Jump for Minneapolis' Light Rail Extension
An already controversial project got bad news earlier this week, as substantial increases in the expected cost of the Southwest LRT extension added more fuel to the fire for opponents of the project.
Report: E-Cigarette Use Triples Among Teens
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13% of high school age students used e-cigarettes in 2014, up from 4% in 2013. Regulation is being developed, but health effects and related tobacco usage implications are not clear.
Toll Lanes Continue to Spread on Southern California Freeways
To the chagrin of many Orange County transportation leaders, two express lanes will be added to each direction on a 14-mile stretch of the 405 (San Diego) Freeway, one through conversion, and a general purpose lane funded in part by Measure M added.
Cities Try to Turn on the Dark
Of all the inventions of the modern world, few have been so embraced as artificial light. But constant light, like that which floods city streets and illuminates buildings, is not necessarily healthy or safe. Some cities are trying to go dark.
Has Alternative Transportation Received Too Much Attention?
Joseph Stomberg of Vox has initiated a series of articles on commuting in America, the first based on the issues explaining the domination of the auto, the second on the debate about the driving decline associated with millennials.
'Missing Middle Housing' Website to Fill the Gap Between Supply and Demand
Opticos Design, Inc., the Berkeley-based urban planning and architecture firm has launched a new website dedicated to the missing middle of the housing market.
Survey Says: Invest in Walking in East Portland
The results of a multi-lingual survey of residents in East Portland produced surprising results about which transportation investments are most desired.
On the Texas-Sized Failure of Regional Transportation Planning
The Dallas Morning News investigated over promising and under delivering by regional mobility authorities in Texas.
Details Emerge for Philadelphia's LOVE Park Redo
One of the country's most scrutinized and anticipated renovation projects, Philadelphia's LOVE Park, has been unveiling critical design decisions in recent weeks.
The Difficult Task of Creating Topophilia
The Project for Public Spaces celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, spanning a seismic shift from modernist planning and urban decay of the 1970s to the urban resurgence and focus on smart growth of today. PPS's Ethan Kent reflects.
Bill to End Colorado's Rain Barrel Ban Floundering in the State Senate
The state that bears the same name as the river that provides water for much of the western United States is also the last state in the country to ban the use of residential water barrels.
Three Charged in Gov. Christie's 'Bridgegate' Scandal
A culmination of sorts for the "Bridgegate" scandal—though three former allies of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have been indicted (one pleading guilty), Gov. Christie has not been implicated in the controversy.
Court Ruling Makes Tiered Water Pricing Difficult for California Drought Efforts
Pricing through tiered levels (i.e., charging more for customers using higher volumes of water), will be difficult, if not impossible, thanks to the ruling of a California appeals court on April 20.
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
planning NEXT
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
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.
