The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Let Smokers Pay for Roads
Missouri has come up with a unique way to pay for roads, and it's even a user fee, though it bears no direct relation to road users other than for those driving to the store to buy their cigarettes. So much for using the tax to address public health.
How the Triboro Line Could Improve Transit for Boroughs Not Named Manhattan
The Regional Plan Association presents the details of a plan to build a rail line connecting the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn: the Triboro Line.
Tampa Approves Big Riverfront Park Renovation
The Tampa City Council approved a big, ambitious park proposal for 23 neglected acres along the Hillsborough River.
A Missing Conversation: Medical Centers and the Built Environment
Hospitals, medical research centers, and the like are supposed to represent health, but are often an unappealing and monolithic presence in the urban landscape. How can the form of health centers fall in line with their function?
A Visit to D.C.'s Museum for the Built Environment
Washington, D.C. has many great museums. One of its least known may be the most interesting to architects, planners, builders, and others. The National Building Museum is all about the built environment.
Recommendations for Reforming the American Public Transportation Association
In light of the resignation of APTA's president following the withdrawal of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Transit Center offers its recommendations for reforming the national transit advocacy organization.
Op-Ed: Why Uber Wasn't Welcome in Austin
In the spirit of civic self-congratulation, Austin resident Richard Parker writes about how the transportation network company giants canceled service after losing a referendum vote. He ascribes this victory to the city's enduring contrarian streak.
Reflecting on Regional Planning—50 Years Later
The planning world celebrated Jane Jacobs's 100th birthday earlier this month, and has already begun commemorating the centennial of New York's first zoning code. But did you know regional planning rose to prominence 50 years ago?
FEATURE
Has Portland Lost its Way?
Oregon's poster child for livable planning is embroiled in new controversies over destructive growth, skyrocketing prices, and back-room cronyism.
The Controversial National Parks Proposal Dividing Maine's North Woods
The Washington Post provides feature-length coverage of an ongoing, long-lasting controversy over a proposal by a wealthy landowner to donate 87,500 acres for the purposes of creating a new national park.
Arlington Reveals $1 Billion Baseball Stadium Proposal
For a little while there, it looked like the Texas Ranger were going urban.
Lessons from the Paleolithic Era for Contemporary Urbanites
Gustav Milne makes a simple argument via The Guardian: urbanization "is bad for us."
Most Young Adults Living With Their Parents for the First Time in 130 Years
A Pew Research Center analysis of Census Data reveals a fundamental shift in the way U.S. residents are living—last true in a time closer to the Civil War than the 20th century.
Something Is Rotten in 'Infrastructure Week'
The cause of infrastructure should be easy for people, and planners, to rally behind. But infrastructure's cause, like so many other political issues, invites conflicts of interest.
Transit Planners Put Ann Arbor-Detroit Commuter Rail in Motion
A long-stalled, but partially built-out, commuter rail line has achieved institutional legitimacy with the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan. Novembers will have a chance to decide on the idea in November.
BLOG POST
Does New Housing Create New Demand for Housing?
One argument against new housing is that it creates demand for housing, thus increasing housing prices.
Reintegrating Ex-Convicts Means Giving Them a Place To Live
The New Orleans Housing Authority has approved reforms to policies on public housing for ex-convicts in an attempt to stem homelessness among the newly released and to foster better reintegration.
Why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Doesn't Use 'Accidents'
Call them crashes, collisions, even incidents, just don't call them 'accidents,' emphatically states Mark R. Rosekind, Ph.D., Administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the nation's premier traffic safety agency.
Equity, Engagement, Community: Empathy Ain't Enough
if a community planning effort is to be judged by the degree to which all voices are heard, then anything short of a big turnout is going to feel like failure. Ben Brown talks equitable engagement, and aligning promises with implementation.
Critiquing Uber's Cross-Border Service from San Diego to Baja California
In Mach, Uber launched Passport, a service allowing cross-border service from San Diego to any location in the northern Baja California region. A columnist's experiment with the service reveals more PR effort than mobility service.
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.
