The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Rural States See Housing Rebound
While the recession has affected the housing market across the country, the few state that are showing signs of recovery are mostly rural.
Sales Of SUVs Boom While Gas Prices Escalate
Oil has topped $90 barrel, electric cars are being touted, and the government is pushing fuel efficiency, but you'd never know it from auto sales - SUVs and trucks once again claim the top spot, having jumped 41% while small cars sales dropped 1.7%.
Tensions in Condo Complexes Over Foreclosures, Neglect
Reporter Dan Fitzpatrick goes to Florida, where slow foreclosures are making cranky neighbors who are footing the bill for the upkeep.
You Can't Fake City Character
Alex Marshall muses on a new T.V. show set in Portland and how distinctiveness is so important to a city's success.
Beijing to Limit Car Registrations to Cut Congestion
In an effort to reduce congestion, Beijing is planning to reduce the amount of vehicle registrations it issues.
The Origin Story of Randal O'Toole
The noted "antiplanner" tells the story of how, while riding a train across California, he discovered that transportation policy is driven by corrupt politics—and how he got the girl in the process.
Reacting, Not Planning, in L.A.
Recently released plans for a possible new football stadium in downtown L.A. show how the city tends to react to developers rather than guide them, according to this criticism.
More Americans Shacking Up With Family
The impact of the recession is being felt around kitchen tables in America as multiple generations have clustered in homes together after being foreclosed on.
Dallas YIMBYs Welcome Homeless
The Casa View Haven Neighborhood Association in Far East Dallas is taking the opposite approach from other local groups by welcoming homeless folks to their community and actively giving them support.
Poor Side of Town is Usually the East Side
The reason? Dan Zambonini proposes that the prevailing winds in most U.S. cities run westerly, so pollution from industrial smokestacks would blow through the eastern neighborhoods.
Smaller Cities Attracting High Tech
Austin, Texas and Baltimore, Maryland have the right stuff to woo the high-tech industry despite their modest size, says Monique Wassenaar Silverio.
Major Redevelopment Project on Chicago's Lakefront
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill re-designed the former U.S. Steel plant site, which will eventually house almost 50,000 people.
Plants Do The Dirty Work
"Phytoremediation" is a growing field (pun intended) of practice that uses particular types of plants to leech toxic materials out of the soil in contaminated sites.
Native Americans Vs. Solar Power
Regulators have approved the construction of 9 large solar power plants in California, but many are facing opposition from local Native American tribes who say that the environmental and cultural impacts were not fully considered.
Massachusetts to Get 'Pay As You Drive' Auto Insurance
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, Massachusetts hopes to tap federal funds to help enact a 'Pay As You Drive' auto insurance program to reduce transportation emissions.
Blame Climate Not Politicians for Weather-Beaten Cities
Extreme weather events have had big city mayors across the world scrambling to clean up messes and prove their cities aren't falling apart. But the real issue is the climate, not the politics.
The Case Against Inclusionary Housing
Affordable housing mandates - "inclusionary zoning" - have been a popular way for cities to deal with high housing costs. But Stephen Smith says there are real market costs, and while the empirical work is in its infancy, it doesn't look promising.
Moving Past Jakarta
Officials in Indonesia are increasingly considering a plan to relocate the capital from Jakarta to another, less troubled location.
Housing and the Growth of the Sun Belt
Recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show big growth in the Sun Belt of the Southwest. This piece from <em>The New York Times</em> looks into why.
Air Hangar Reborn as Waterpark
An air hangar in Germany has been converted into a massive waterpark, which some see as the possible beginning of a trend in adaptive reuse of these types of facilities.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
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.
