The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Boston’s Micro-Apartment Experiment Continues
Boston, like other cities around the country, suffers from a housing shortage. Initial micro-apartment developments met plenty of demand, but whether the model is a panacea for the city’s housing shortage is still in question.
California's Crude by Rail Preparations Trigger Demonstrations
The Bay Area port city of Pittsburg is considering an application to rebuild and upgrade an existing oil terminal that would receive the explosive crude-by-rail from North Dakota, and residents are making their opposition heard.
Highway Trust Fund Projected to Become Insolvent Earlier than Expected
As we've noted numerous times, the Highway Trust Fund will become insolvent around the end of the fiscal year - Sept. 30, just when MAP-21, the transportation authorization bill, expires. We were wrong. The new HTF "ticker" explains the bad news.
FEATURE
What Is Popular Planning? 13 Years of Planetizen
A chronicle of the evolution of popular planning, drawn from data collected from the long history of Planetizen as a forum for discussion and reporting.
Parks Need Buildings, Too—A Silver Spring Transit Center Case Study
As the long-awaited Silver Spring Transit Center continues construction, voices in the community want to consider a park adjacent to the forthcoming Metro stop. Dan Reed writes, however, that the area might not be well suited for a park.
Detroit—Model of Lean Urbanism
The Knight Foundation has announced funding for the Project for Lean Urbanism, led by Andrés Duany. In a recent article, Duany applies concepts from Lean Urbanism in examining the case of Detroit as the next in a line of revitalized urban settings.
BLOG POST
Affordable Housing in New York City—What’s Next
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has set a lofty goal of creating or preserving 200,000 units of affordable housing in New York City. How can the mayor's team deliver on that promise?
BLOG POST
For or Against Smart Cities: Where Should Planners Stand?
Are we using technology to plan for utopias? Or are we luddites who are ignoring an inevitable future? Should we be for our against smart cities? Two recent books take on this debate.
San Diego Satellite Town Asks: Smart Growth or Trojan Horse?
San Diego County's "most walkable city" is being challenged to identify the real smart growth: what it has or what is being proposed. At issue: a plan amendment for a high density project near transit. But is the project real?
Sustaining the New Orleans Success Story
A new report called “Sustaining Prosperity: A Long Term Vision for the New Orleans Region,” authored by Joel Kotkin, celebrates the rebirth of New Orleans and sets a five point plan for ensuring New Orleans’ long-term prosperity.
Pittsburgh Resets Clock for Steelers’ Open Space Proposal
Pittsburgh hopes for pedestrian-oriented public space at the corner of Art Rooney Avenue and North Shore Drive. The city’s planning commission recently granted its NFL franchise a third extension to develop a plan for the parking lot on the parcel.
Obama's Directive to EPA: Trucks to Get Leaner
Over strong objections from some auto and truck manufacturers, President Obama directed EPA to develop new fuel efficiency regulations for medium and heavy-duty trucks by March 2016 as part of his administration's effort to reduce carbon emissions.
New York Mayor de Blasio Details Vision Zero Traffic Safety Plan
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio gathered Police Commissioner William Bratton and Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg to make the potentially historic policy announcement: the Vision Zero plan, which treats all traffic deaths as preventable.
Getting Stuff Done: What City Planning Is All About
How can cities and towns narrow the gap between promise and performance and, in doing so, build a solid brand? Ben Brown offers a one step to-do list: Get stuff done.
The Best Complete Streets Programs of 2013
More than 80 communities adopted complete streets policies in 2013, bringing the national total to 610 jurisdictions with such policies. The National Complete Streets Coalition examined the newest programs for the best examples.
10 Tops on Twitter: Transportation
Interested in city transportation and mass transit? Here are the Top 10 accounts to follow on Twitter.
Does Reducing Regulations Yield Expanded Housing Options?
Outdated and onerous regulations, particularly those found in zoning ordinances, are affecting the availability of housing choice. What can communities do to expand their hosing stock? C.J. Gabbe explains.
DOE Clears Way for First Nuclear Construction in 30 Years
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz is expected to announce final approval for an $8.3 billion loan guarantee for the first nuclear reactors to be built in the united States in more than three decades.
Comments Close for CEQA’s Level Of Service Revisions—What Now?
California’s retooling of Level of Service (LOS) analysis is one of the most closely watched regulatory changes in the country. With public comments on the issue closing on Feb. 18, how are planners reacting to the potential changes?
Exit Interview: D.C. Planning Director Harriet Tregoning Departs for HUD
During Tregoning's seven years at the helm of the Washington, D.C. Office of Planning, she pushed the city to adopt smart-growth policies touching all aspects of life--not just land use, but transportation, the economy, and more.
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.
