The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

All-White Neighborhoods Are Nearly Extinct; All-Black Neighborhoods Persist
The good news is that middle-class suburbs are becoming increasingly integrated. However, a closer look at the migration patterns of whites and minorities reveals a more complex picture, rife with racism.
Poverty Shifts to the Twin Cities Suburbs
A recent report finds that more people are living in poverty in suburban areas than in the more urban areas of the Twin Cities region.
An Unexpected Advocate for Utah's Vehicle-Miles-Traveled Fee
One would expect the Utah Taxpayers Association to oppose county measures to increase general sales taxes by .25 percent to fund transportation programs, so their endorsement of an alternative revenue option, the mileage fee, is surprising.
San Antonio Ramps Up Air Quality Efforts After Poor Showing
San Antonio's soon-to-be-adopted air quality plan will focus on transportation to reduce the city's air pollution.
Why 'Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing' Matters
An interview with a leading academic on the subject of fair housing offers perspective on the new Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule created by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

New App Plots the Most Beautiful, Walkable Route
Interested in finding the road less traveled by? Walkonomics has launched in seven cities around the globe.

7 Principles for Designing Safe Cities
A World Research Institute report offers seven prescriptions for designing safer cities. At the top of the list: avoid sprawl.
Community is Common Ground for Liberals and Conservatives
Supporters of New Urbanism may live across the political spectrum, but they all want to live in traditional neighborhoods.
8 Winners Selected for the 2015 Transportation Planning Excellence Awards
The federal government surveyed the country to recognize the best (multi-modal) transportation planning projects.
Selling the Nation's Strategic Assets to Fund Road Construction
What happened to the "strategic" in the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserves? As Politico reveals, heretofore these oil reserves have only been sold when the nation's oil supply was threatened. Republicans leaders now view the SPR as a cash cow.
Los Angeles: A Tale of Two Ecologies
The late architecture critic Reyner Banham and social historian Mike Davis had opposing viewpoints regarding Los Angeles' ecology, but in many ways their disparate takes complemented each other, writes urban planner Jonathan P. Bell.

California City Looks for Place to Stash Its Weed (Production)
The Northern California city of Arcata has long tolerated the production of California's most second-most-lucrative mood-altering crop. Now, the city is considering an official zoning designation to accommodate marijuana production.
Three Days of Delays on Northeast Corridor for Amtrak and NJ Transit
Once again, chronic delays on New Jersey Transit's rail lines in and out of Manhattan serve as a reminder of Gov. Christie's ill fated decision to cancel replacement of the two aging Hudson River tunnels to Penn Station.
Improving Mental Health May Be As Easy As a Walk in the Park
A new study offers evidence that walking in a natural setting is more beneficial to mental health than walking in an urban setting.

Friday Eye Candy: Freeway Interchanges From Far Above
High quality, high altitude images of that marvel of modern engineering: the freeway interchange.
Friday Eye Candy: Mapping the Most Epic Road Trips in American Literature
A map for good reads and long drives to new places.
Master Planned Neighborhood Focuses on Materials to Avoid Blandness
Could something as simple of the material selected for a residential tower prove the "antidote to suburban blandness"? A Parisian suburb thinks so.
Study: New Jersey Surrounds Transit Stations With Single-Family Housing
According to the Streetsblog, one of the most transit-rich states in the country squanders the potential benefits of its infrastructure by surrounding stations with sprawling residential communities.
Seattle Releases App to Track Development
Into an active development environment, and the resulting heightened pitch of development controversies, comes a new app from the city of Seattle that allows the public to track development projects.
On the Limitations—and Unanswered Questions—of Housing Research
Limitations of data collection mean many questions about housing consumption simply cannot be answered.
Pagination
Tyler Technologies
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
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.