The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
An App Made for Urban Explorers
The Likeways app offers a "Space Recommender System" that aims to return serendipity to the process of navigating a city.
When a 3-Foot Clearance for Passing a Cyclist Is Not Enough
Sharrows and 3-foot passing laws are meant to make biking safer in streets in the absence of bike lanes. Bike activists in Iowa want to take safety a step further by requiring motorists to move to another lane, just as they would if passing a car.
Op-Ed: Affordability Crisis Dwarfs Affordability Policies
Although the political optics are hard to see, Daniel Hertz argues that policies like inclusionary zoning need to be strengthened by orders of magnitude to have more than a token impact on housing affordability.
A New Design Guide for Affordable Housing Developments
New affordable housing is only one step toward creating livable communities—a quality mix of uses on the ground floor, designed to integrate with the street and public spaces is also vital.
America's Infrastructural Reckoning
Through the lens of Henry Petroski's new book, Tom Vanderbilt discusses why infrastructure, as we have come to define it, is such a fraught topic in American life.
New Tool Accesses Chicago Open Data
OpenGrid gathers together Chicago's open data, letting users specify areas of focus on a map of the city. Users can also overlay different datasets on the same map.
Op-Ed: Facial Recognition on Transit Goes a Step Too Far
Despite its insistence that the technology would only target criminals, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) should reconsider using facial recognition software to address crime. The potential for abuse may be too high.
A Map of the Most Economically Distressed Communities in the United States
The economic recovery of recent years has not reached all corners of the country—it hasn’t even reached all corners of many cities. A new report plots a new map of the nation's distressed communities.
San Francisco Offers to Refund $6 Million in Overpaid Parking Tickets
You might not believe it, but the city of San Francisco is offering refunds after realizing it overcharged on parking tickets.
Details of Chicago's Vista Tower—Soon to Be the Tallest Building Designed by a Woman
The Vista Tower is expected for completion in 2020, when it will become the world's tallest tower designed by a woman.
Op-Ed: San Diego's Draft Downtown Mobility Plan Suffering From Suburban Myopia
San Diego's Draft Downtown Mobility Plan is laudable but consists of basic generalities and vanilla concepts, ignoring how an urban environment functions, writes Jimmy Parker, former president of the city's most urban business district.
New Philadelphia Mayor Pitching $300 Million for Parks and Libraries
Investment in public space is shaping up as a signature initiative for new Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney.
Say it Ayn So! A Randian View of the Boston-Area's Housing Supply
The Boston-area's supply of urban housing is failing people starting their careers, writes an architect and fan of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead.
Friday Eye Candy: Dallas, Transformed Into Poetry
Dallas is a subject in a visual experiment titled "A City is a Poem."
California's Gas Tax Continues to Plummet
Last February, the state Board of Equalization voted to reduce the gas tax by 6-cents. On Tuesday, it voted 3-2 to continue the decrease by 2.2 cents. The vote is required by an arcane rule that translates into tax *decreases when gas prices fall.
Tiny Homes for the Homeless Run Afoul of the City of Los Angeles
The city of Los Angeles is putting an end to a crowdfunded, unpermitted program to build and deliver tiny homes to homeless people living on the streets of Los Angeles.
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The Colliding Legacies of Olmsted and Obama
Architects will soon be hired to design Obama's presidential library in Chicago. It may turn out to be a beautiful building, but will it be worth all that is lost in the process?
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Retrofitting the Cul-de-Sac
A recent book on retrofitting sprawl contains numerous proposals to revise cul-de-sacs—all of which are interesting, even if politically infeasible.
Louisville Conservation Subdivision Proposal Hits a Snag
A development controversy in Louisville centers on the definition of a conservation subdivision and an environmental threat in the form of an insect known as the emerald ash borer.
Houston Releases Ambitious Bike Plan Aimed Toward Casual Riders
The newly revealed Houston Bike Plan targets an estimated $300 million to $500 million in investments into the city's bike infrastructure.
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
Tyler Technologies
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State 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.
