The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

How to Solve the Looming Water Crisis

David Sedlak, author of "Water 4.0: The Past, Present, and Future of the World's Most Vital Resource," explains how the deepening obsolescence of our water infrastructure is reaching crisis status.

October 12 - Vox

palms

Trees In Urban Design: Are You Planting a Liability or Growing an Asset?

Trees are a vital element of urban design, one that must considered at every stage of planning, design and development.

October 12 - Congress for the New Urbanism

Urban Amenity: Pick Up UPS Packages at the Dry Cleaner or Pharmacy

Tired of coming home and seeing the "We Missed You" slip hanging from the door of your apartment building rather than receiving the package you had ordered online? UPS has an app for that.

October 12 - The Wall Street Journal

Winnipeg

Creative Placemaking: Preserve, Repair, Intensify

Many cities have long been investing in art and culture, marrying it to placemaking, and generating extraordinary local transformations. Hazel Borys offers up a little inspiration from an art opening this week, and a few pointers for urbanists.

October 12 - PlaceShakers

How the Federal Government Can Support Innovation Districts

A new report by Bruce Katz of Brookings Institute discusses the federal government’s role in spurring and aiding the innovation districts found in many cities across the country today.

October 11 - Brookings Institution


Study Rates Car 'Infotainment Systems' for Levels of Distraction

A study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety assessed the mental demands required of six hands-free, in-vehicle systems dialing phones and changing radio stations.

October 11 - Chicago Tribune

Star Apartments Offer Starchitect Treatment for L.A.'s Skid Row Homeless

The new 100-unit, $40-million Star Apartments opened in Skid Row earlier this week is part of Los Angeles County’s Housing for Health initiative to house 10,000 of the most vulnerable homeless people.

October 11 - Los Angeles Times


Study: 'Leaky Pipeline' Diminishes the Role of Women in Architecture

Although more women are studying architecture, equal footing is quickly lost as they progress through their careers according to a new study by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.

October 11 - Architizer

De Blasio Announces $130 Million Park Equity Plan

In response to criticisms of the large investments in "big ticket" parks in wealthy neighborhoods during the Bloomberg Administration, New York City announced a park equity plan this week.

October 11 - New York Times

The Best Sentences of the Week

By no means authoritative or comprehensive, here's a collection of noteworthy phrases, paragraphs, commentaries, observations, and more from the recent week in the planning and urbanism discussion.

October 10 - Planetizen

Google maps screengrab of the United States

Mapping Lifestyle, Age, Income, and Population Density by ZIP Code

Esri offers a new product called Tapestry Segmentation, which overlays geography with U.S. Census and marketing data.

October 10 - The Wall Street Journal

California Refineries Prepare to Receive Cheaper Crude-by-Rail

The surge in oil production has not benefited California, but that's about to change. Shale oil from North Dakota and other states costs $15 less than imported oil. After transportation costs, California refineries would save $3 per barrel.

October 10 - The Wall Street Journal

Strong Ridership for Tucson Modern Streetcar's First Months

Early reviews and returns on Tucson's Modern Streetcar appear positive, according to an article for Arizona Public Media.

October 10 - Arizona Public Radio

Latest American Community Survey: Continued Growth for (Some) Cities

According to the latest figures from the U.S. Census 2013 American Community Survey (ACS), Americans continue to move into cities en masse over suburbs, but certain cities are attracting larger crowds than others.

October 10 - USA Today

Millennials in Government

A new report on millennials working in the federal government was released earlier this week by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, detailing the trends associated with this young generation of employees.

October 10 - The Washington Post

2014 APA California Conference in the Happiest Place on Earth

This year’s California American Planning Association conference convened at Disneyland and covered some innovative environmental, active transportation, and park plans and programs, including Disney’s own green practices, writes planner Clement Lau.

October 10 - UrbDeZine

Profile in Success: Keith Parker, General Manager and CEO of MARTA

A profile piece for Governing focuses on the work of Keith Parker, who since 2012 has been leading the ninth-largest transportation agency in the country: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA).

October 10 - Governing

Friday Eye Candy: 2014's Best Architectural Photography

The 2014 Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Awards were presented at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore recently.

October 10 - Dezeen

Surface Parking

Friday Funny: The Onion has Been Reading Donald Shoup

The satirical news site The Onion is back with another take on the concerns of planners and transportation engineers. This time The Onion takes a page out of Donald's Shoup playbook.

October 10 - The Onion

Awarding the Best Government Websites

Looking for the best examples of municipal websites? Look no further.

October 9 - Government Technology

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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.