The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The Top 10 Cities for Millennial Homebuyers—Starting With Des Moines
A list of cities with the highest percentage of homebuyers described by the category of Millennial is conspicuously absent of expensive, coastal cities.
First West Coast LNG Export Facility Gets Critical Federal OK
On Sept. 30, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the final environmental impact statement for a contentious $7.5 billion Liquefied Natural Gas export facility, pipeline, and power plant in Coos Bay, Ore. More approvals are still needed.
Coding for Character: Doing Away With the Zoned Out Nature of Cities
What's keeping the historic parts of your city or town from staying up-to-date and well-loved? Usually, the laws.

Let the Lawns Go
According to one Dallas suburbanite, the American lawn is a "decadent and unsustainable totem[s] of middle-class prosperity."
Planners Face Challenge of Building Neighborhoods and Economic Opportunities
Planners face the increasing challenge of how to improve economic opportunities for individuals while simultaneously improving urban neighborhoods without triggering gentrification.
Chattanooga's Unique Approach to Innovation Districts
Bruce Katz says something special is going on in Chattanooga—where a uniquely situated innovation district is setting an example for more traditional approaches to the concept.
The Dallas City Councilmember Standing Up for Pedestrians
A hearing on pedestrian infrastructure in Dallas—which is proving exceptionally deadly this year—reveals the sharp political divide on how to make streets safe for walking.
New Jersey Golf Course Gives Way to Sprawl
Once upon a time, golf courses were a popular component of development plans. Much more common now: single-family detached housing on the former site of a golf course.
America's Second Protected Intersection Now Open
The first protected intersection opened in August in Davis, Calif., a university town with the nation's highest percentage of bike commuters. Salt Lake City's new protected intersection is explained on NPR's "Here & Now" report with audio and videos.
5 Tips for Analyzing Transit Service
Esri offers insights into five new ways to analyze the success of transit service in cities of all kinds.
More Americans Living Next Door to Fire Danger
A summer of drought and devastating fires has demonstrated the dangers of allowing residential developments to sprawl ever farther into wild, natural environments.

BLOG POST
Substance, Style, and the Success of the 606
The Bloomingdale Trail, the star attraction of the 606 in Chicago, has been compared to NYC's High Line. But with its restrained design and focus on high-use activity, it is nothing like it, and, in certain ways, it's even better.

Reaching Vision Zero: Road Diets and Wider Lanes?
Slowing traffic by reducing the width of lanes should not be a one-size fits all approach to reaching Vision Zero.

How Commutes Influence Happiness, Health
More evidence is piling up that commuting by anything but private automobile can increase happiness, social capital, and health.

Pavement Parks: a Better Parklet Alternative
Too often, street-side parklets become little more than semi-private patios for the businesses that sponsor them. Pavement parks, replacing dangerous intersections, may be a more worthwhile option.

New Tracking System Tackles Bus Bunching
Washington, D.C.'s DOT has adopted TransitIQ, a straightforward tracking technology, to help dispatchers keep buses on schedule.
Bay Area Extreme Commuting for the Love of Larger, Affordable Single Family Homes
It's a tradeoff that 3.9 percent of the Bay Area workforce are willing to make to own an affordable home. It's often not even a choice between living in the city or the suburbs, but the close-in suburbs or the exurbs or San Joaquin Valley.

Distracted Walking: Finally, Some Hard Data
It's serious, and the data is surprising. You need not be a pedestrian to experience injury while walking using your cell phone: half of all injuries occurred in the home. Two thirds of all walking-using-cell phone injuries were females.
Amtrak Gateway Planning Is Coming Together
Initial planning steps toward replacement of the 105-year-old tunnels under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York's Penn Station are underway, with New Jersey Transit, Amtrak, and the Port Authority of N.Y & N.J. all playing key roles.

Seattle's Struggle to Build Affordable Housing
The Emerald City's affordable housing difficulties mirror those of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and others: too much demand and too few resources.
Pagination
Municipality of Princeton
Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission
City of Mt Shasta
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.