The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
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.
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UN-Habitat Adopts International Guidelines for Urban and Territorial Planning
UN-Habitat has adopted International Guidelines for Urban and Territorial Planning intended to inform the United Nation's New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.
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Parsing the Urban Landscape
A lot of people think exclusively of plants when they hear the term landscape. Without a common language to effectively describe it, the role landscape plays in the urban realm will remain undervalued.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
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.
