The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The "Imagining Livability Design Collection" by the AARP Livable Communities and the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute provides a visual portfolio of placemaking solutions that can be implemented quickly, for not too much money.

July 20 - AARP

Elizabeth City, North Carolina, will host a 204-megawatt wind energy facility—the first in a region known for steady coastal breezes. The project is a collaboration of European-based Iberdrola Renewables, LLC, and Seattle-based Amazon.

July 20 - WRAL

Columbus is surprisingly suburban, given that the city is the largest in population in the state of Ohio. Maybe that perception comes from the fact that it’s also the largest in size in the state?

July 19 - The Columbus Dispatch

The city of Portland has allocated funding for the purchase of land reported to be under consideration as the new location of a large homeless camp called Right 2 Dream Too.

July 19 - The Oregonian

California’s drought has the State Water Resources Control Board in "hyperdrive"—rushing to fill the gaps of a historic water-rights system, settle disputes over water use, and lay the groundwork for a sustainable future.

July 19 - The Planning Report

As Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez of the San Francisco Examiner explains, the 'E' Line has only been over three decades in the making. Credit goes greatly to former mayor, now U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, and the tireless work of committed advocates.

July 19 - San Francisco Examiner

Critics of express lanes have often described the tolling as a double-tax for the use of highways. In a first, Florida is planning to charge for express lanes on toll roads. Triple tax?

July 19 - Sun Sentinel

Public hearings are underway in Raleigh to discuss the zoning changes necessary to implement the city's Unified Development ordinance. Heated rhetoric was inevitable.

July 18 - Indy Week

A traffic study evaluating the impact of proposed developments in Downtown Oklahoma City recommends removing a newly opened dedicated bike lane and parking spots to make room for another traffic lane.

July 18 - The Oklahoman

The chair of the Community Development Trust makes the case for the new potential of private sector investments in affordable housing.

July 18 - American Banker

Resilience is one of the hottest buzzwords in contemporary planning, and planners in communities around the country are only beginning to realize the multiple benefits of the attention and funding devoted to resilience plans.

July 18 - APA Policy News

Route Fifty created a ranking system to judge the "gravitas" of each of the avenues in the nation's capital named after the 50 states in the Union.

July 18 - Route Fifty

BLOG POST

Take a walk around your downtown and what do you see. Most people are attached to their mobile phones, using them for directions, searching, and texting. See how can cities leverage digital technology to create a more engaging city center.

July 17 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

The Utah Transit Authority wants riders to try biking rather than driving to rail and transit stations, so they are offering $60 in giveaways to people that choose not to do so. Some stations come equipped with air pumps and repair stands.

July 17 - Deseret News

Since 2010, planners, designers, and community members have been actively transforming Seattle's alleys into beloved places within the city's urban fabric.

July 17 - The Seattle Times

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors acted against the recommendations of county planners in moving toward banning utility-scale wind energy production from unincorporated parts of the county.

July 17 - Los Angeles Daily News

A decade ago many of Virginia's rural counties were among the fastest growing in the country, but in most of Virginia's counties deaths now outnumber births, and county populations are consequently growing more slowly or declining.

July 17 - University of Virginia Center for Public Service

The city of Edmonton’s comprehensive planning strategies aim for an "innovation ecosystem" that can compete with cities yet to be built.

July 17 - The Planning Report

To fix California’s housing crisis, a statewide mandate is needed that requires 20 percent of all new housing, rental units, and those for sale be set aside for low-income families, according to affordable housing developer Murtaza H. Baxamusa.

July 17 - UrbDeZine

BLOG POST

Efficient and equitable urban roadway management favors higher value trips and more space-efficient modes over lower-value trips and space-intensive modes. This can justify bus lane networks in most major cities.

July 17 - Todd Litman