The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Houston Micro-Condo Development Now to Include Hotel
A New York City micro-unit developer had hoped to sell 550 micro-condos to millennials and empty nesters. The project is being redesigned to reduce the number of micro-condos and add a hotel.

Safe Streets for Whom?
An equity strategist offers advice on creating safe streets programs that address systemic racism.

Study: Interaction between Bicyclists and Streetcars Find Deadly Results
A new study looks at the interaction between bicyclists and streetcars (trams) or train tracks and does not find a good outcome.

Why the Sierra Club Owns a $2.2 Billion Coal Reserve
Through a series of legal maneuvers associated with a coal giant's bankruptcy, the Sierra Club made good on a conservation opportunity worth $2.2 billion and weighing 53 million tons.

Report: Britain's Suburbs on the Decline
London's central core never experienced the deterioration many American downtowns lived through, but the inner city/suburb dynamic was still at play. Now poverty is moving outward.
Friday Fun: Portland Bike Lanes Pay Tribute to David Bowie and Prince
Biking is very rock and roll. Portland just turned up the volume.

Atlanta Piloting a 'Transit Oriented Soccer' Idea
MARTA's Five Points station will be the first to test an idea of building small soccer fields at multiple transit stations in the system.

An Urban Lesson From the DNC's Host City
While Democrats consider the future of the country, the host city of the DNC offers a great urban lesson from the past: the elegant efficiency of rowhouses.
San Francisco Approves Accessory Dwelling Units
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has approved legislation that will allow the construction of accessory dwelling units, potentially adding thousands of units to the city's housing supply.
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit Employees Get a Raise—Months Before Operations Begin
The North San Francisco Bay Area has lacked passenger rail for decades—but the process of hiring the staff necessary to operate the line on a daily basis has been complicated by the cost of housing in the area.

A Case for Integrating Housing and Healthcare Services
Connecting affordable housing and healthcare programs can improve both—especially for seniors and disabled people.

Unexpected Good News for Children Arises from an Environmental Devastation
Hurricane Katrina may have devastated much of New Orleans, but in its wake, literally, unexpected good work was done. Clean sediment was deposited over lead-contaminated soil, one reason why lead levels in children decreased.
A Side-by-Side Comparison of Infrastructure Policy Platforms
The Republican and Democratic parties both claim to understand the importance of infrastructure, but they show support in vastly different ways.

On Bike Infrastructure, Cities Can Do Better
Urban bike infrastructure is plagued by three related problems: design, politics, and security.

Phoenix Planning for a New Approach to its Urban Forest
A city famous for tall palm trees wants to find some shade.

South Side Location Selected for the Obama Library
The eagerly anticipated selection of the future site of the Obama Presidential Library has leaked to the press. A formal announcement is expected soon.

FEATURE
Airbnb's Listings Expanded in 2015, but Many Don't Last Long
A new statistical analysis of Airbnb listings shows the short-term-rental service is growing worldwide, but suggests that many hosts don't stick with it. Intermittent commercial uses of residences could be seen in the planning context of "mixed use."

Less Than the Olympic Ideal
A long-read in The Nation pokes large holes in the narrative of the Olympics as a beacon of equality and unity. The effect in Brazil, according to the article, has been quite the opposite.

A 'Housing New York' Report Card
The de Blasio Administration set lofty goals for the creation and preservation of housing in New York. So how's that going?

Good News on Car Sharing
Car sharing networks that allow the vehicle to be returned to any location were found to have the impact of removing seven cars for each rented car in San Diego in a three-year study released July 19.
Pagination
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
Tyler Technologies
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Chaddick Institute at DePaul 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.