The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Suburban Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Takes Property Data Visualization to the Next Level

Not all property data maps are created equal.

July 26 - Data-Smart City Solutions

Bhaji Bazaar

Education and Nutrition Flourish Together

"A hungry world is not a just world," says one of the local residents quoted in this story about a community garden in Denver.

July 26 - The Denver Post

Environmental Protection Agency

How Long Will the Office of Environmental Justice Last in Trump's EPA?

Does environmental justice need its own office to help vulnerable populations impacted by pollution, or can all divisions within the EPA address the issue? The Office of Environmental Justice, established in 1993, may be shut down.

July 26 - ProPublica

Santa Monica Route 66

Critiquing Santa Monica's 'Grand Bargain' of a Downtown Plan

The city of Santa Monica increased in population by 6,500 between 1960 and 2010, while the rest of Los Angeles County grew by 60 percent over the same period. A debate over a new downtown plan that includes more housing was never going to be simple.

July 26 - Los Angeles Times

Marine Sanctuaries Not Safe From Drilling

As it has already done with public lands, the Trump Administration is studying how to roll back environmental protections for the sake of the oil and gas industries. This time, marine sanctuaries are the administration's target.

July 26 - KQED


Court Decision Forces Seattle to Improve Sidewalk Infrastructure

The city of Seattle has finally been compelled to maintain pedestrian infrastructure in keeping with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

July 26 - The Urbanist

Mexico City from the air

No More Parking Minimums in Mexico City

Mexico's capital city and the largest city in North America turned the new regulation into law earlier this month.

July 26 - Streetsblog USA


SEPTA Bus

Philadelphia to Consider Bus System Redesign

Philadelphia is one of many American cities suddenly beset with declining bus ridership numbers, likely in part as a result of the popularity of transportation network companies.

July 26 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

USS Arleigh Burke Sailors perform preservation maintenance

In a Perfect World, Maintenance Is the Coolest Trend in Infrastructure

The New York Times opinion section includes a call for society, politicians, and business leaders to recognize the importance of maintenance.

July 26 - The New York Times

Hyperloop

BLOG POST

A Boring Lesson for Planners

Elon Musk's vision for transportation networks made of tunnels and powered by magnets may or may not come to pass. But planners can still take a cue from his vision for infrastructure development.

July 26 - Josh Stephens

Bike woth sound system

Bikes That Talk in a World of Self-Driving Cars

The question of whether self-driving cars will make streets and roads a safer place for humans depends on whether technology can protect the most vulnerable users.

July 25 - National Public Radio

National Parks Service

Congress Confirms a Controversial Number Two at the Department of the Interior

The confirmation of David Bernhardt as Deputy Secretary of the Interior has upset environmentalists and advocates for public land.

July 25 - The Washington Post

The Branham light rail station area.

Traffic Concerns Sink Light-Rail-Adjacent Development in San Jose

The city of San Jose has a mixed record of moving forward with land use changes that complement its existing and expanding transit systems.

July 25 - The Mercury News

Hope VI Housing

Op-Ed: To Lower Housing Costs, Make it Cheaper and Easier to Build Housing

The argument in the headline, put more specifically: inclusionary zoning, fees, legal challenges, and minimum apartment sizes are counter-productive. The only policy that will add housing stock, is to make it much cheaper to add housing stock.

July 25 - Sightline Institute

Gov. Jerry Brown's High-Speed Gamble

To secure needed votes to pass a vital cap-and-trade bill, Brown made a deal with California's Republican lawmakers that could cost him his legacy infrastructure project—the high-speed train from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

July 25 - San Francisco Chronicle

Texas State Capital

Texas Bill Would Immunize Property Rights From Zoning Code Changes

The Texas Legislature and executive branch is continuing to wage a battle against local control, this time pursuing a land use law that would undermine zoning code changes, such as the current CodeNEXT process in Austin.

July 25 - Austin American-Statesman

Bus Stop

BLOG POST

First Mile-Last Mile, Intermodalism, and Making Public Transit More Attractive

As planners seek to leverage public transit investments with enhanced first mile-last mile connections, it is critical that market analysis guide those initiatives and that impacts and cost effectiveness are part of the performance assessment.

July 25 - Steven Polzin

Washington D.C. Bus

D.C.'s Circulator Bus System: Metro Out, DDOT In

The well-documented problems facing the D.C. Circulator bus system came to head earlier in July.

July 25 - WAMU

Japan

A National Day of Telecommuting

Companies and workers in the country of Japan are less likely to work from home than in the United States. The government hopes to increase the number of telecommuters during the 2020 Olympics, however.

July 25 - Quartz

Adams Morgan District

FEATURE

To Learn About a City, Visit Its Neighborhoods

Tourists are often drawn to downtown museums, sightseeing tours, and high-end restaurants. But if these travelers want to truly understand a city’s full story, they may need to take a bit of a detour.

July 25 - Tara Lerman

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.