The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Friday Fun: An Interactive Tool That Explains Floor Area Ratio
The Center for Urban Pedagogy's latest tool provides an easy and fun way to explain a difficult but critical concept: floor area ratio.
Friday Funny: The Transit Rider No One Should Aspire To Be
John Metcalfe introduces the world to Jimmy, the transit riding jerk who will probably seem all-too familiar.
Voters Reject Soccer Stadium Proposal for Downtown St. Louis
Backers hoped a soccer stadium would ease the pain of losing the St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles in 2016. Now St. Louis sports fans will have to go back to the drawing board.
Sales Tax, Not Property Tax, Preferred Funding Tool for Seattle's Homeless Crisis
Seattle's King County is home to an estimated 10,000 unsheltered homeless people. Local officials are trying to figure out how to raise the funds to address the crisis.
Riders Are Ditching Buses for Trains Along Metro L.A.'s New Gold Line Extension
As ridership on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Gold Line light rail line continues to grow, duplicative bus lines are suffering.
D.C. Metro's Recent Controversial Decision: Painting Over Brutalism
Controversy erupted last week in Washington, D.C., after D.C. Metro decided to paint Union Station's vaulted ceilings—a famous icon of the District, it's regional transit system, and the architectural style of Brutalism.
How New York's New 'Slow Turn Boxes' Work
Slow turn boxes, also known as neckdowns or curb extensions, have been popping up all over New York City as part of an ongoing pilot project.
New York City's Highest Profile Transit Projects at Risk Despite Trump Assurances
Planning and construction for the new Amtrak Gateway tunnels unders the Hudson River and the next phase of the Second Avenue Subway could grind to a halt under President Trump's proposed budget that substantially cuts capital grants programs.
Cleveland Considering Options for Derelict Lakefront Power Plant
A planning consultant hired by FirstEnergy is putting out the first speculative ideas for the future of a contaminated lakefront site of a most demolished power plant.
Lessons From Savannah
Savannah, Georgia is an elegant southern belle of a city. Susan Henderson looks at some of its lessons, along with ideas for future study.
MBTA's Green Line Extension Moving Forward Again
A revised plan to extend the MBTA's Green Line light rail line into Somerville and Medford required approval from the state (approved last May) and the Federal Transit Authority (approved this week).
Why So Early? School Start Times and Suburban Sprawl
The advent of sprawl coincided with a move toward earlier school start times, prompted by a need to coordinate complicated bussing. If students could walk to school, the problem might disappear.
Leading San Francisco Architect Picks a Fight With the City's Planning Department
Architects and planners have to work together, as everyone on both sides of the equation knows. Even though the fields often speak the same language, there still seem to be many moments and ideas lost in translation.
Nation's School Districts Struggling to Attract Enough Bus Drivers
As the economy has improved, fewer people are looking for employment as school bus drivers. When fewer buses are available, more students drive to school, brining unwanted environmental risks along for the ride.
BLOG POST
Removing California's Costa-Hawkins Act and the Future of Rent Control
In an attempt to combat prohibitively high housing costs in California, some look to repeal the 1995 state law that limits the power of local rent control ordinances. However, removing those restrictions would likely exaggerate current problems.
Ohio Bans the Use of Plywood to Board Up Vacant Buildings
The state of Ohio is expanding a practice used by the Fannie Mae to counter the negative effects of vacancies and blight.
Provo-Orem Bus Rapid Transit Project Wins Court Battle
A district judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging local authority to approve an under-construction bus rapid transit project in Utah.
Bertha Finally Breaks On Through (To the Other Side)
The Bertha tunnel boring machine was once stuck under the city of Seattle for more than a year. Now it has reached its goal, four years after it began its journey.
Critiquing the First Woonerf in Minneapolis
You be the judge: is this innovative land use in Downtown Minneapolis a woonerf or a glorified parking lot?
A First Look at Proposed Border Wall Designs
The Wall Street Journal received lots of press packages from firms bidding to build the proposed wall between the border of the United States and Mexico. A gallery of renderings—sent in earnest, in protest, or in a crass marketing ploy—follows.
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
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.
