The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Searching for a 21st Century Transportation Bill
Transportation officials are talking more and more about drafting a brand new type of transportation bill, one that diverges from the patterns and old thinking of the past. But that's easier said than done.
High-Speed Rail, By The Numbers
America 2050 recently released a report ranking the best intercity corridors for high speed rail investment.
FEATURE
A Ride on Dubai's New Metro Rail System
The new Dubai Metro rail system recently began operations in the desert city. Christopher Corbett, an American planner who's been living and working in Dubai, takes us on a visual tour.
Randal O'Toole Wants to Abolish the DOT
Barring that, he has some eight proposals for the transportation reauthorization bill, including eliminating long-range transportation planning and clean air mandates.
Retailers Reentering the Market, Seeking Better Space
Retailers like Best Buy, Kohl's and Apple evidently think the market is looking up, and are planning to open new stores. But, Retail Traffic Magazine reports, retailers are going to be a lot pickier about site selection this time around.
A Look at Houston and its Environmental Impact
This report from <em>NPR</em> looks at Houston's growth pattern, and the evolution of a city that at once provides a high quality of life but also creates a big environmental impact.
The Model Stormwater City
Portland is well-known for many things in the urban planning community. Now, it's being recognized as a leader in stormwater management.
Fighting Blight With Art
Palm Springs officials are working to fill the windows of empty storefronts with art and movie posters in order to keep the streetscape feeling lively.
Ads Cleaned Into Streets: 'Reverse Grafitti'?
Planetizen's Nate Berg reports on advertisers in Los Angeles using steam cleaners to put corporate logos into the grimy sidewalk. Advertisers claim, "If anything, we've improved public property. We've cleaned up streets that were normally filthy."
Architecture for A Water-Poor World
Matsys, an experimental architecture firm, used the book <em>Dune</em> as a starting point for its design of a terraced, sunken city form focused around preserving water.
Transit Disoriented Development
Arlington, Texas, is home to the Dallas Cowboys' football stadium. But as the largest American city with no public bus or rail lines, getting to the stadium is no easy task.
Creating Virtual City Tours Through 'Photo Tourism'
By combing through images on Flickr, a team of researchers has created a 3-D model of the city of Rome constructed from 150,000 tourist snapshots.
What Today's Cities Will Look Like in the Future
Imagining cities of the future can bring about some pretty wild predictions. But when they're visions of existing cities, these futuristic predictions can be almost realistic.
Friday Funny: German Terrorists Attack Fake California Town
A German filmmaker seeking publicity pulled a hoax on the German news, creating a fake terrorist attack on the fake California City of Bluewater. The elaborate hoax involved creating fake websites for the city and the local TV station.
The Worst Urbanist
We've gotten a lot of responses on our Top 100 Urban Thinkers list, particularly those wanting to separate out the 'bad' from the 'good'. Mary Newsom was inspired by the list to ponder, who was the worst?
EPA Seeks to Change Water-Guzzling Grass Usage
This year, the Environmental Protection Agency will expand its WaterSense program to label newly built homes which are 20 percent more water-efficient than standard homes. The label's landscaping clause is causing a stir among grass enthusiasts.
Federal Mag-Lev Funding Reignites Debate in Las Vegas
Federal authorities recently announced $45 million in support of plans to construct a magnetic levitation train line between Las Vegas and Southern California, re-igniting a debate over two proposed rail connections.
BLOG POST
The Social Life of Traffic
<p> Traffic is essentially "an engineering issue," says author Tom Vanderbilt. "But there's also a layer of culture."<br /> <br /> That layer of culture determines, to a large extent, how traffic can become a problem. This idea is explored in Vanderbilt's 2008 book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307264785?ie=UTF8&tag=planetizen&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307264785" target="_blank" title="Traffic, by Tom Vanderbilt - on Amazon">Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)</a>, a <a href="/books/2009" target="_blank" title="Planetizen Top Books 2009">Planetizen Top Book</a> of the year. He recently expanded on that idea for a discussion about traffic put on by <a href="http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/" target="_blank" title="Zocalo Public Square">Zocalo Public Square</a> in (where better?) Los Angeles.
Public Art Thrives in Hard Times in Manhattan
A public art park has sprung up on a corner in Manhattan on loan from a local developer waiting to build on the land.
GIS on the Chisholm Trail
A profile of James Mallory, GISP, whose job in the Oklahoma County assessor's office sometimes involves using GIS to locate historic trails and treasure.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie
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.
