The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Place Mobility: Sometimes Good Transportation Is Slow
Streetcars are expensive and slow, and that drives Matthew Yglesias crazy. He fails to grasp Place Mobility, which can be an excellent transportation investment for a city.
Senate Showdown Expected on House Highway Funding Bill
The Senate will hear four amendments to the House bill, passed July 15, in the last week of July. Sens. Boxer, Carper, and Corker want the funding extension to terminate on December 19 rather than May 31. On August 1, DOT reduces payments to states.
New from the U.S. Department of Agriculture: $10 Billion Rural Investment Fund
As pension funds and institutional investors, faced with low interest rates, are searching for non-traditional investments, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will play matchmaker for a new $10 billion rural investment fund.
Los Angeles Housing and Incubator for Artists Hopes to Grow to Every Community
A review of Art Share LA by Los Angeles County planner Clement Lau.
New Study Predicts Vehicle Travel Saturation Levels
A new RAND Corporation study models motorization growth rates and saturation levels, and identifies potential policies to encourage more efficient transportation in developing countries.
Competition Addresses the Design Challenges of Placemaking in Rural Communities
In its annual competitive funding effort, the Citizens' Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) has selected four small towns and rural communities to host a two-and-a-half day rural design technical workshop.
Will Benefits from $1 Billion Climate Change Resilience Fund be Limited to 'Believer States'?
A review of the federal government’s recent announcement of a $1 billion competition to provide funding for communities affected by disasters by Dave Hampton, a natural disaster resilience consultant.
A Developer's Perspective on Historic Restoration for Mixed-Used Development
Developer Nick Kujawa shares his experience with mix-use development, and provides commentary on a new Community Builders report, "RESTORE: Commercial and Mixed-Use Development Trends in the Rocky Mountain West."
Festivities Greet Weekend Opening of Tucson Sun Link Streetcar
$87.7 million in voter-approved funding, a $63 million TIGER grant, a $6 million New Starts grant, and $35.6 million in other regional and local funding built the Sun Link streetcar. A whole weekend of festivities will welcome its opening.
Denver's Historic Union Station Gets Grand Opening Today
Called one of the most complex public works projects in Denver's history, Denver's new Union Station will lie at the center of a rapidly growing rail and transit network.
D.C. Metro's Silver Line Launches Passenger Service
After no small amount of debate, delay, and controversy, the first phase of D.C. Metro's Silver Line will launch passenger service today. The line will connect Washington D.C. to northwestern Virginia, including four stops in Tysons Corner.
Gaming for Planners—More than SimCity
At the Serious Gaming workshop held in South Africa, game-maker Tygron showcased their game "The Climategame" and examined game play for lessons in how planners might improve their professional practice.
Redesign for Seattle's Notoriously Unsafe 2nd Avenue Bike Lane
Seattle is hoping to transform the 2nd Avenue bike lane from the cities worst—location of 60 bike collisions in the last four years—to a demonstration of the state-of-the-art in bike infrastructure design.
California Water Districts Might Skirt Prop 13 to Fund $25 Billion Canal Plan
Californians who take low property taxes and high quality drinking water for granted might have reason to rethink both those realities if the state's water districts figure out a way to raise property taxes—the same might be true if they don't.
Tar Sands Rebellion in Maine Port City
Can one small port city make a difference? South Portland, home to an oil tanker facility that has long received crude from abroad, has blocked the owner from exporting tar sands crude and hopes to spur other cities to act.
Does Too-Plentiful Parking Spark Wild Parties at Chicago's Montrose Beach?
Parking is at the center of proposed urban design and planning responses a recent melee at Montrose Beach in Chicago, which followed an un-permitted concert.
Arizona Residents Ditching Cars, Taking Transit
A new report finds that residents of Arizona are driving less—much, much less. Arizonans drive less that they did in the 1990s, in fact. Despite these trends, the state government has not adjusted its traffic forecasting models.
Can Kentucky Compete in an Urbanizing, Global Economy?
Braden Lammers provides a dispatch from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Business Summit and Annual Meeting, sharing the testimony of one business leader on the state's work force challenges.
Ranking the Best (and Worst) Cities for Recreation
July is "National Park and Recreation Month." To commemorate, WalletHub compiled a ranking system that compares cities by their recreational opportunities.
Feel Like Singing? Here's 11 Transportation-Themed Show Tunes
NPR movie critic Bob Mondello gathered ditties from musicals inspired by the glory of transportation.
Borough of Carlisle
Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
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.
