The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Los Angeles Skyline with houses

Urban Forestry in L.A. Explained

Los Angeles County has inventoried their trees and devised a strategy for fostering an urban canopy. Park planner Clement Lau explains.

August 28 - UrbDeZine

Faced With Declining Population, Japanese Village Is Repopulated By Scarecrows

The population of Nagoro, Japan has declined in recent years from 300 to just 30 people. Local artist Tsukimi Ayano has populated the village with scarecrows to replace some of the familiar community figures who are now gone.

August 28 - NPR

Elon Musk Gigafactory

Inside Tesla's $5 Billion, 5.8-Million-Square-Foot Gigafactory

The scale of Tesla's vision for the Gigafactory, already under construction in Storey County, Nevada, is unparalleled.

August 27 - Architizer

Air Pollution from Natural Gas Industry in Pennsylvania on the Rise

With a 32 percent increase in natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, it is no surprise that emissions are increasing as well, particularly sulfur dioxide. However, the increase was dwarfed by decreases from the power sector.

August 27 - The Allegheny Front

Nighttime Traffic

Peak Car Revisited

U.S. vehicle travel increased 3.2% (8.6 billion vehicle miles) in total and 2.0% per capita between Junes 2015 and 2016. That is a new peak in total VMT, but a 2.75% reduction in per capita VMT. Will these growth rates continue into the future?

August 27 - Peak Car Revisited


Ride Hailing to Replace Former Bus Route

A small public transit company serving the East Bay will be the first in California to conduct a pilot project to use transportation network companies and taxis to service low density areas of Dublin in Alameda County.

August 27 - KQED News

Jamaica Bay

Jamaica Bay: Wilderness in the City

Created so people could "experience nature in the midst of crowds," New York's Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge embodies the characteristics of all modern national parks: abundant, welcoming, and threatened.

August 27 - Grist


Yosemite

Planetizen Week in Review: August 26, 2016

It only takes two minutes and 55 seconds to catch up on the biggest news stories from the week in planning.

August 26 - Planetizen

Hillary Clinton

Affordable Housing and the 2016 Election

The cost of housing affects millions across the country, but the issue has been conspicuously absent in the campaigns. Hillary Clinton's plan includes an imprecise remedy, while Donald Trump's pronouncements have been vaguer still.

August 26 - Next City

Pittsburgh at Night

Rust Belt Revival: Pittsburgh's New Economy

When Uber announced this month that it would test-run its fleet of self-driving cars in the Steel City, many probably asked, "why Pittsburgh?" Unlike other post-industrial places, it's been incubating a 21st-century economy.

August 26 - Salon

Sea Level

The Danger of Buying By the Sea

Zillow has released research on how many of the nation's homes may be underwater (literally) by the year 2100. Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Louisiana are at the highest risk.

August 26 - Zillow

Shasta

Climate Change Requires a Different Paradigm for California's Water Supply

Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, explains how the impacts of California’s historic drought are already changing the landscape of the American Southwest.

August 26 - The Planning Report

Earned Income Should Not Replace Public Funding for Community Development

Our plan was to seek out community-based organizations trying to back away from developer fees, pursuing recent implications that smaller organizations should consider leaving development work to more efficient, larger ones. We found none.

August 26 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Sacramento

Sacramento Rising: Mayor-Elect Darrell Steinberg's Vision for Sustainable Communities

Mayor-Elect Steinberg enters City Hall as a leader with a unique opportunity to enact sustainable infill policies he championed in the California Legislature.

August 26 - The Planning Report

Sharon, Vermont Utopian City Design

A Developer's Plan to Build a Mormon Utopia in Vermont Hits Opposition

Plans drawn up for a new, futuristic 20,000-person community in Sharon, Vermont, based on town plans originally conceived by Church of Latter Day Saints founder Joseph Smith, have hit a roadblock with locals and the church itself.

August 26 - Inverse

Boston

Boston Sets a Citywide Default Speed Limit of 25 MPH

Finally by the state of Massachusetts to set its own speed limits, Boston moved quickly to reduce to reduce its default speed limit to 25 mph.

August 26 - Boston.com

Bus

Friday Funny: Souvenir Photos of Your New York City Bus Ride

A satirical post by ClickHole imagines a world where bus trips are treated like a trip to Disneyland.

August 26 - Clickhole

When Architects Design Video Games

Not long ago, Deanna Van Buren was offered the position of lead architect on an unusual project—a video game called "The Witness."

August 25 - Archinect

London 2012 Olympic Games

For Host Cities, Olympic Legacies Are Mixed

The two-week competition is often touted as a galvanizing force for urban development. But that's only cities include the Games' legacy in their planning process from the start.

August 25 - Curbed

Sprinkler Sprawl

Study: Economy and Population Growing Faster Than Humanity's Footprint

The study compares data between 1993 and 2009.

August 25 - EurekAlert

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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.