The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Micro-Housing Debate Continues in Seattle
The "D" word (Density) is in play in Seattle, as city leaders and residents debate micro-housing regulations proposed by the City Council in May.
Protestors Gather after Budget Cuts Eliminate Omaha's Bike/Ped Planner
Despite the protestations of local advocacy groups, councilmembers, and the former director of planning, Mayor Jean Stothert is moving a head with a budget proposal that would eliminate Omaha's only planner dedicated to bike and pedestrian plans.
Can Chicago's Tech Boom Benefit the South Side?
With tech businesses setting up shop in Chicago's Loop, what it will take to attract companies out to neighborhoods like Garfield Park and Englewood?
Anatomy of a Complete Streets Controversy: Los Angeles Edition
Advocates for a more multi-modal lifestyle in Los Angeles have achieved tremendous successes in the last decade. But ongoing bike lane controversies shows there's still a long way to go.
San Francisco's Housing Craze: More People Fewer Cars
Something strange is taking place in the City by the Bay. It's not just experiencing a growth in carless households—carless households are actually replacing those with cars.
Open Today: Light Rail Connection to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
Called the "biggest accomplishment" in DART's 31-year history, city leaders are hoping the new airport connection brings more international cachet along with tourists, conventions, and investments in downtown.
Bike Infrastructure Study: Bigger Investments Return Bigger Payoff
You get what you pay for, goes the old saying, and a new study out of New Zealand makes the case that when it comes investing in bike infrastructure, it's best to invest in quality.
Ferguson Conflict Provides Lessons in Suburban Poverty
A post by Brookings explains how the racial tensions and violent clashes between police and protestors in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson are a symptom of common contemporary archetype: the impoverished suburb.
Traffic Safety Requires a 'Psychological Speed Limit'
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed a bill this month reducing the speed limit in New York City. But what will it take to get people to actually slow down, especially when speeding is an acceptable social norm?
Responding to Distorted Criticisms of the President's High Speed Rail Program
High-speed rail is not an $11-billion failure, as a recent New York Times article asserts, writes Time's Michael Grunwald. A more appropriate name would be "higher speed" rail as outside of the California project, all are upgrades of Amtrak lines.
California Voters to Consider $7.5 Billion Water Bond
It isn't always a drought in California, but the state's Legislature is always fighting over investments in water storage and delivery infrastructure. This week's 11th hour action will put a $7.5 billion water bond before the voters in November.
Retrofitting New York City's Multi-Family Housing for Resilience
Multi-family housing took the brunt of Hurricane Sandy. Compounding the many challenges to storm-proofing the city's housing supply: 90 percent of the housing in flood-prone areas was built before 1983, when flood-resistance standards were adopted.
Bowling Green, Kentucky a Model of College Town Development Success
Keith Schneider shares the details of an ongoing building boom around the campus of Western Kentucky University, where $262 million in construction has come to Bowling Green’s central business district since 2008.
Is Busking in D.C.'s Metro Stations Protected Speech?
The ubiquitous sight of a performer or musician asking for money in a New York City subway is conspicuously absent from Washington D.C. Metro stations, because busking is verboten in the nation's capital. A July lawsuit aims to change that policy.
With a Footprint Larger than its City Limits: Will Boise Annex 27,000 New Residents?
Following a controversy over annexation on the northwest boundary of Boise back in July, an Idaho Statesman article examines the prospect (and history) of plans to annex a much more populated area to the city's southwest.
A Collection of Benefits for 'Walkable, Compact, Diverse' Neighborhoods
A meta-analysis published in Housing Policy Debate finds that extensive studies in recent years support positive claims about walkable neighborhoods.
Editorial: Streetcar Funding Better Spent Elsewhere
The Economist introduces the concept of the streetcar in America—its history and its recent revival—before laying the arguments in support of, and against, the role of streetcars in urban revival.
Ten Years of OpenStreetMap
Exactly how does a student take on an open data political stance and transform it into "the largest crowd-sourced mapping project on the internet"?
Tourism's Negative Effects in Italian Art Cities
With about 353 tourists per resident in the historic city center of Venice, many residents are fleeing the crowds and moving onto the mainland, making the city a "monument-attraction," rather than a viable living space.
A Primer on the Zoning Code Avant Garde
Anthony Flint discusses how "Silicon Valley-level innovative thinking" is making zoning more exciting than, well, anyone ever thought zoning codes could be.
City of Clovis
City of Moorpark
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.
