The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Are You Ready for a Sky Full of Autonomous Flying Taxis?

Some lucky people could be flying over traffic in autonomous drones within two years, according to a media blitz this morning.

May 8 - CBS This Morning

San Francisco Bike Lane

E-Scooters and Dockless Bikeshare Could Deliver Transit Access to the Underserved

Instead of focusing on the potential of new forms of for-hire personal transportation to level the mobility playing field, every article about scooters and dockless bikeshare seems to go something like this: "Deadly Scooter Craze Scoots On."

May 8 - Recode

U.S. Census

Concerns About Census 2020, As Told by GIFs

Interested observers have been sounding the alarms about the federal government's readiness and commitment level for the 2020 Census.

May 8 - Vox

Self-Driving Car

Handicapping the Self-Driving Horse Race

There are a lot of players in the autonomous vehicle game. It can be hard to keep track of which company is fighting for which share of the market, and which companies are out in front in the race to dominate the emerging industry.

May 8 - Bloomberg

Main Street bridge crossing the St. Joseph's River

New Revitalization Toolkit for Smaller Legacy Cities

Not every Legacy City has the size and cultural cache of a Pittsburgh or a New Orleans to aid in its recovery, but there are resources available for smaller cities examining pragmatic revitalization strategies.

May 8 - Greater Ohio Policy Center


Michigan

A $130 Million Infusion for Detroit's 'Strategic Neighborhood Fund'

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Planning Director Maurice Cox announced a major new funding initiative to support the city's Strategic Neighborhood Fund. Funding will support projects in seven target neighborhoods.

May 8 - The Detroit Free Press

Trump Campaign

Lawsuit Challenges the Trump Administration's Approach to Fair Housing

Housing Advocates have filed a lawsuit to press the Department of Housing and Urban Development to enforce requirements of the Fair Housing Act.

May 8 - The Washington Post


Airport Bike

Study Finds People Tend to Overestimate How Long It Takes to Walk and Bike

Ninety percent of respondents to a recent survey overestimated the time it would take to walk or bike to work, and those with parking permits were the worst at guessing their commute times.

May 7 - The New York Times

Ohio River

Millennials Moving to Mid-Size Cities

Jobs and cheap housing give some small cities a big appeal for folks in their 20s and 30s.

May 7 - Curbed

Ontario, Canada

Doug Ford, Candidate for Ontario Premier, Would Open Toronto Greenbelt to Development

A prominent conservative with an infamous name is promoting single-family home development in the Toronto greenbelt as a way to release pressure on the Toronto housing market.

May 7 - Toronto Sun

Mobility

Opinion: Don't Let the Private Sector Monopolize Transportation Apps

The track record of the public sector keeping up with mobility innovations varies by geography and level of governance. According to this article, it's imperative that the public sector keeps up with the pace of private sector innovation.

May 7 - SPUR

Uber Protest

Slowing Ride Hailing Growth in NYC

Ride hailing seems to be here to stay, but if New York's mayor gets his way it will face a major speed bump in the Big Apple.

May 7 - Next City

Seattle Victorian

Zoned Out: Seattle Prioritizes Single-Family Residential

In Seattle, most (88 percent) of the city's new housing is being developed in a few small, already dense areas around the city. Most of the city is reserved for single-family housing.

May 7 - The Seattle Times

San Francisco

California as a Model for Housing Legislation

The Golden State may have the nation's most severe housing crisis, but there is one area of state housing policy where it shines, becoming a model for other states that want to advance accessory dwelling units, also called granny or in-law units.

May 7 - Next City

Beacon

How the Lights in Our Cities Became Too Bright

“Why are lighting designers and experts nearly unified in their belief that outdoor lighting in past years has been excessive?”

May 7 - Metropolis Magazine

Cleveland 4th Street St. Patrick's

Can Density Prevent Diabetes?

In Australia, a new study will determine the best ways to make high-density developments healthy places to live.

May 7 - Diabetes.co.uk

Shibukawa Limited Express

Japanese Bus Drivers Strike by Not Accepting Fares

Bus drivers in Japan put blankets over fare boxes and continue to drive their routes, in order to serve their passengers while on strike.

May 7 - NPR

Library Books

FEATURE

Two Popular Business Books for Planners

Mining the business world for lessons about the planning profession.

May 6 - Chris Steins

View of solar panels on roofs

California to Require Solar on New Residential Buildings

The California Energy Commission will decide on new energy standards for residential construction this week.

May 6 - The Orange County Register

Bay Area Highway

Clearview Is Back as the Font of Choice for Highway Signs

An overlooked feature of the federal omnibus bill approved earlier this year: a return to the Clearview font for highway traffic signs.

May 6 - Equipment World

Post News

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.