The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

What Are the Biggest Challenges Facing America's Mayors?

Earlier this week, Charlie Rose hosted a roundtable discussion with the mayors of Chicago, Baltimore, Jacksonville, and Louisville on how they're working to revitalize their cities in challenging economic times.

April 20 - Charlie Rose

The Dream Team Behind America's Transportation Revolution

In the first of a five-part series, Angie Schmitt pays tribute to three "visionary bureaucrats" who are changing the face of transportation in the United States.

April 20 - Streetsblog

In Which Cities are People Eating the Healthiest?

Ariel Schwartz identifies where people have the best and worst eating habits based on self-supplied data gathered by a food-picture-taking and healthiness-rating application.

April 20 - Fast Coexist

Sacramento's Slam Dunk Stadium Deal Rejected

Steven Greenhut opines on the lucky break he believes residents of Sacramento received earlier this week when owners of the city's NBA franchise backed out of a partnership to build a new basketball arena in the city's downtown.

April 20 - Bloomberg View

Vallejo Approves First City-Wide Participatory Budgeting Process in US

The City Council of Vallejo, California, approved the first city-wide Participatory Budgeting process in the US this week. Residents will directly decide how to spend around $3 million from new sales tax revenue.

April 20 - Times Herald


A Facelift for the Nation's Front Lawn

Kaid Benfield laments the capital's "blah"-inspiring National Mall, and discusses three design competitions underway that could give it a second life.

April 20 - Switchboard

LA Mayor Stakes His Legacy on Transit Plan

Stymied by multiple attempts to leverage one of his key political victories as mayor - the passage of a half-cent tax increase to fund transit in LA - Villaraigosa announced another bid to speed up the expansion of the region's mass transit system.

April 20 - Los Angeles Times


Refuting the Recent Food Access and Obesity Findings

Allison Karpyn, Ph.D., director of research and evaluation for the Food Trust, shares her doubts about the overall implications of recent studies questioning the concept of Food Deserts and their connection to obesity.

April 20 - Next American City

Are DC's Strict Height Limits and Arbitrary Planning Rules Hurting the City?

Two commentaries pick up on the recent push to loosen Washington D.C.'s notoriously conservative height limits, and argue that such controversial changes are overdue and, in fact, don't go far enough.

April 19 - The Atlantic

Planning for New York's "Sixth Borough"

A year after its release, Tom Stoelker tracks the progress of New York's comprehensive plan for its waterfront, Vision 2020, the recent recipient of the APA's Daniel Burnham Award.

April 19 - The Architect's Newspaper

Ranking America's Hipster Havens

Katrina Brown Hunt ranks America's top ten cities for hipsters with the help of <em>Travel + Leisure</em> readers, who voted in the magazine's annual America’s Favorite Cities survey.

April 19 - Yahoo! Travel

The Tech Start-Up Revolutionizing Parking

Ariel Schwartz profiles Streetline and their suite of applications that are collectively transforming the way we manage, locate, and reserve parking.

April 19 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Concluding the APA Convention: 'The Cost Comes Before the Benefit'

Renée Jones-Bos, Ambassador of the Netherlands to the United States, spoke about water, infrastructure, planning, ports, and cost-benefit analysis as the closing keynote speaker at the 2012 APA National Convention in Los Angeles.

April 19 - The Planning Report

Serving Drivers with Instant Bridge Replacement

John Schwartz reports on a bridge replacement technique that demonstrates innovation in construction, as well as customer service.

April 19 - The New York Times

Celebrating America's Top Main Streets

Writing in <em>Travel + Leisure</em>, Wayne Curtis surveys 15 of America's greatest Main Streets.

April 19 - Travel + Leisure

Examining Our Now-Fading Mania For Malls

On the sixty-year anniversary of the genesis of the country's first enclosed mall, Mark Hinshaw looks at America's foolish detour into shopping malls.

April 19 - Crosscut

CA Legislative Analyst Recommends Minimal Funding For HSR Project

Gov. Jerry Brown was no doubt disappointed to read the report from the non-partisan Legislative Analyst Office that recommends minimal funding at best for the $68 billion project due to "highly speculative funding" from private and federal sources.

April 19 - San Jose Mercury News

Planting Social Change One Garden At a Time

Emily Wax explores how guerrilla gardeners in Washington D.C. are taking over vacant lots and creating space for neighborhood gardens and vegetable patches, and building community along the way.

April 19 - The Washington Post

Retrofitting Buildings in Bulk

Emily Badger looks at how a simple idea in energy retrofitting can be tailored to work for the largely untapped market of small to mid-size commercial properties.

April 18 - The Atlantic Cities

Studies Shoot Down Concept of Food Deserts and Their Link to Obesity

Gina Kolata reports on the findings of two new studies that question the very concept of food deserts in poor neighborhoods, and the connection between fresh food access and obesity.

April 18 - The New York Times

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Senior Manager Operations, Urban Planning

New York City School Construction Authority

Building Inspector

Village of Glen Ellyn

Manager of Model Development

Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO

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.

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.