The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Water Treatment

San Diego Mayor: Recycled Wastewater Program Will Be a Model

Mayor Kevin Faulconer sees San Diego's Pure Water Program as proof of concept for other cities with uncertain water supplies. By 2035, the initiative aims to derive one-third of the city's supply from recycled wastewater.

May 24 - Brookings

Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona

Comparing the Differences in Property Taxes Around the United States

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence have released their annual "50-State Property Tax Comparison Study."

May 24 - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Gentrification

Dan Savage: Doing Something Real About Gentrification and Displacement

Urbanites' complaints about gentrification have much in common with suburbanites' complaints about commutes. Scarcity due to the ridiculous amount of land zoned for single-family housing deserves as much blame for displacement as gentrification.

May 24 - The Stranger

Piedmont Park Atlanta

The 'City Design Project' Aims to Make Atlanta an Intentional City

Two of the highest-profile planners in the city of Atlanta, Tim Keane and Ryan Gravel, have teamed up to lead a creative visioning process that could help lead Atlanta to a new era of planning and development.

May 24 - Atlanta

Elon Musk Gigafactory

A Scathing Critique of Elon Musk's Big Tunneling Idea

Not all ideas are worth attention. What does the fact that ideas like Elon Musk's The Boring Company get so much attention say about the quality of civic discourse, or the potential for planning to improve the built environment?

May 24 - The Baffler


School Chlidren

The Walking Classroom Benefits Body and Mind

If you needed another reason to provide safe routes for walking around schools, see the results of the Walking Classroom—on display in New Jersey and around the country.

May 23 - NorthJersey.com

A First Look at Apple's New Corporate Headquarters

Apple employees began moving into the company's new headquarters in Cupertino, California in April. The moving process culminates a development process that launched in 2008 under the helm of Steve Jobs.

May 23 - The Architect's Newspaper


Purple Line Extension

Court Ruling Could Be a Final Setback for Maryland Purple Line Extension

A recent ruling by a U.S. district court could be a deathblow for the 16-mile Purple Line extension into Maryland, as well as for transit planning in general.

May 23 - Greater Greater Washington

Sports Authority

As Big Box Retailers Fade, New Uses Are Springing Up

The end of the era of the big box retailer is leaving landlords with the difficult task of finding new tenants for the large, empty storefronts.

May 23 - Denver Post

Mountain river

Court Decision Makes it Final: Washington State Owes $2 Billion for Culvert Repairs

When it refused to reconsider a 2016 ruling that mandated the state of Washington to broken culverts around the state, the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals put to rest a legal controversy ongoing since 2001.

May 23 - The Seattle Times

San Antonio Riverwalk

Back to the Suburbs: Most Metropolitan Are Getting Less Dense

A closer look at the data reveals a country that continues to sprawl.

May 23 - The New York Times

Commuter Rail

A Change of Heart by Secretary Chao on California's Oldest Commuter Rail Line

A week ago, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao indicated she would not sign-off on the $647 million federal grant for the $2 billion Caltrain electrification project. On Monday, she changed her mind.

May 23 - The Mercury News

Washington, D.C.

The Sky's the Limit for Washington, D.C.-Area High Rises

With a new high-rise under construction and even taller high-rise working its way through planning approvals, the Washington, D.C. area's building envelope is reaching new heights.

May 23 - Greater Greater Washington

Single Room Occupancy

NYC's Rental Market Returns to the Single Room Occupancy Model of a Century Ago

A New York Times feature details the re-emergence of the single room occupancy (SRO) unit in the New York rental market. Despite a stigma and an old-fashioned quality, the SRO is becoming a badly needed housing solution.

May 23 - The New York Times

Empty Parking Lot

As a Driverless Future Dawns, Should We Still Build Parking?

No one is really sure how many parking spots the United States contains, but estimates stretch up to 2 billion.

May 23 - Doggerel

Honda Clarity

Northeast is Next Market for Fuel Cell Vehicles

The only state where fuel cell electric vehicles can be leased is California where 30 hydrogen refueling stations exist now, with 100 planned to be in operation by 2020. Almost no public refueling stations exist elsewhere, but that's about to change.

May 22 - The New York Times

Design Library: African-American Perspectives on Architecture

Focusing on the often-overlooked contributions of people of color to the built environment, Dr. Craig Wilkins from the University of Michigan shares his list of recommended reading.

May 22 - Doggerel

Colorado Bike Lane

Colorado Still Short Cash and Ideas to Fix its Roads

Colorado's roads and highways are in poor repair—the state of transportation was even called a 'quiet crisis' ten years ago. The problems persist, as does the state's lack of funding to fix the problem.

May 22 - The Denver Post

Homeless Man

Solving Homelessness: Title V's Shortcomings and Potential Explained

The Title V program makes the hard parts of solving homelessness—finding the money and the property—a lot easier. So why hasn't it been used at a much larger scale?

May 22 - CityLab

Chicago Harbor, City Skyline, Illinois

Mapping Chicago's Zoning Code Changes

A new interactive map feature launched by the Chicago Cityscape website maps all the zoning changes up for approval around the city.

May 22 - Chicago Cityscape

Post News

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.

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.