The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
The Risks and Opportunities of Globalization as Reflected in Homeownership
Jonathan Massey pens an essay in the journal <em>Places</em>, in which he probes the implications of homeownership as the vehicle by which the microeconomics of household finance and the macroeconomics of a globalized economy are mediated.
Commuter Rail May Tap CA High-Speed Rail Funds
The CA High Speed Rail Authority hopes to work with Caltrain in the Bay Area and Metrolink in the South Coast by allowing them to use state HSR Bond funds provided they match the amount. Electrification and grade crossing separations are eligible.
Illegal Palestinian Solar Installations Set For Demolition
Over the past two years, German funding and Israeli philanthropy led to the construction of solar installations for Palestinians living in "Area C" in the West Bank. Now Israel says the panels are illegal and wants them demolished.
Revilatization Through Graphic Design
Zak Stone reports on a campaign in Chattanooga, Tennessee to distill the city's artistic and entrepreneurial spirit into a font, and asks the question - can a font help a city make a comeback?
Friday Funny: Using Classical Music to Deter Transit Crime
Pat Doyle reports on a new effort to reduce nuisances at a Minneapolis area light-rail station by using offensive music -- classical music in this case -- as a deterrent.
It Exists: A Conservative Who Supports Transit
Seemingly as hard to find as the mythic Sasquatch or a Unicorn, we've searched high and low for a conservative who supports transit (or at least who will say so in public) and have found one, in the region around Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Next Chapter in the Arcosanti Saga
Michael Tortorello pays a visit to the futurist desert colony to see what's in store as its legendary founder retires and it struggles to remain a bulwark against modern capitalism.
Metropolitan Museum Courtyard Renovation Plans Court Controversy
Ambitious plans to revamp the Metropolitan Museum's Fifth Avenue plaza, more than 40 years after its last makeover, are being criticized by the Museum's affluent neighbors, who fear that the project might be too successful.
On the Value of Tight Urbanism
As cities such as Chicago and Detroit put forth programs to turn their neglected alleyways into urban amenities, JoAnn Greco speaks with Daniel Toole, a 26-year-old, Seattle-based architect, who has accidentally become an expert on the topic
A Fresh Design Concept for Mixed Use Development
Eric Laine and Suzanne Steelman present LiveWork, a new take on the changing nature of living and working in a design for a mixed use development in Athens, GA.
Making the Case for Sprawl
Christopher Mims reports on L. Brooks Patterson, county executive of Oakland County, Michigan, who is perhaps the country's most vocal advocate of sprawl.
Downturn Proves Resiliency of Smart Growth
In an interview with the <em>San Diego Union-Tribune</em>, Geoffrey Anderson and Bill Fulton reflect on the new normal for development across the country, which astonishingly to anyone looking back twenty years, has absorbed Smart Growth principles.
How MoMA's Foreclosed Exhibition Sets Design Back Ten Years
In a rousing rebuke to the Museum of Modern Art's new show "Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream," Bryan Bell takes aim at the out-of-date thinking represented in top-down architecture by star architects and curators.
The Keys to Happiness in City Living
Ariel Schwartz reports on the findings of a new study from Urban Affairs Review that surveyed residents from 10 major international cities on what qualities make them most happy.
Senate Transportation Bill Derails
After moving swiftly through preliminary hearings in the Senate last week, that body's supposedly bipartisan transportation bill has been stopped in its tracks according to its sponsor Sen. Barbara Boxer, reports Keith Laing.
Why the Future of Sustainable Cities Rests with China
Manish Bapna outlines the factors that put China on the frontlines of sustainable urban development.
What Do Pop-Up Shops and Homelessness Reveal About Urban Land Use?
On the land use spectrum, pop-up shops and homelessness operate at very different ends and from disparate positions of power. Ann Deslandes investigates the commonalities that bind them.
Is a Deputy Mayor for Architecture and Urban Design in LA's Future
In preparation for a series of Los Angeles mayoral candidate forums being hosted by the AIA beginning this Friday, Will Wright singles out the one issue that he would most like to see addressed.
Melding Art With Infrastructure, Without Breaking the Bank
Walter Geiger pens a case study of an Orlando project that melded public art with mass transit, with maximum impact at minimal cost.
Innovative Project Turns Parking Lot to Wetland in Los Angeles
Kate Linthicum reports on a recently completed project in South Los Angeles to turn a former bus yard into a piece of stormwater infrastructure and a public amenity
Pagination
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
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.