The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

View of Portland, Oregon from Pittock Mansion

Portland Surpassing Its Housing Bond Targets

Three years after passing a $256 million housing bond, city officials in Portland, Oregon, report that over 1,400 units of affordable housing will result from planned and completed projects.

September 30 - The Oregonian

Los Angeles River Bike Path

L.A. River Restoration Challenged by Gentrification, Environmental Concerns

A massive effort to restore the Los Angeles River to more public access and open space amentias continues to raise the specter of gentrification in neighborhoods already feeling the pressure of the housing market.

September 30 - Los Angeles Times

Seattle C.A.P.

I-5 Freeway Lid Plans Take Step Forward

A plan to build a cap over Interstate 5 in Downtown Seattle has taken a small but significant step forward.

September 30 - The Urbanist

Chicago Rain

Editorial Sounds Alarms About the 'Illinois Exodus'

The Chicago Tribune sends a message to the political leadership of Illinois and Chicago about population decline, and its causes.

September 30 - Chicago Tribune

New York City

FEATURE

Three Studies That Show Density Doesn't Determine Car Travel

Thirty years after a seminal study attempted to connect increased density with decreased automobile use, several new studies are raising doubts about that central assumption of contemporary planning.

September 30 - Fanis Grammenos


New York Construction

Three Years of New York's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program

One of the more aggressive inclusionary zoning programs in the country has been in place long enough to evaluate for lessons regarding the effectiveness of the controversial affordable housing development tool.

September 30 - Commercial Observer

Chicago Commuter Rail

What's Hindering Regional Transportation in the U.S.?

Public transportation that serves regional areas makes sense, but the United States has been slow to pursue strategies and policies that foster these types of systems.

September 29 - the transport politic


Puget Sound

Op-Ed: Seattle Resilience Roadmap Feels 'Retrospective'

Natalie Bicknell notes several deficiencies in the roadmap that resulted from Seattle's participation in the Rockefeller Foundation's now-defunct 100 Resilient Cities program.

September 29 - The Urbanist

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Op-Ed: Feds 'Obsessed' with Undermining National Monument

Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is under severe assault from the Trump administration, Stephen Trimble writes. Long the focus of preservation efforts, the protected land is being opened up for extractive uses.

September 29 - The Hill

Green Electricity for Lime Scooters

A new program that will incentivize scooter "juicers," the people who collect and charge electric scooters for a fee, to switch to green energy.

September 29 - CityLab

2004 Rezoning Didn't Predict the Wave of Residential Development in Downtown Brooklyn

Downtown Brooklyn is New York City's third-largest central business district, and a 2004 rezoning was meant to increase the commercial footprint in the area. Instead there's been more residential development than planners anticipated.

September 29 - Crain's New York Business

Homeless Living in RVs

Denver Suburb Bans RVs From Parking on Streets Citywide

Lakewood is taking an aggressive approach to homeless people sleeping in cars on public streets.

September 28 - The Denver Post

Seattle Homeless

Seattle Tiny-Home Villages Facing Host of Challenges

The villages offer much-needed housing for homeless people, but controversy is brewing over their operations.

September 28 - The Seattle Times

Colorado River

Changes for Big Pipeline Project to Connect Utah to the Colorado River

A hugely significant water and power infrastructure project in the works in Utah is now only a water project.

September 28 - The Salt Lake Tribune

Brooklyn Redevelopment

Brooklyn Navy Yard's Transformation in High Gear

A Curbed feature details the ongoing transformation of a formerly inaccessible and inhospitable corner of New York City.

September 28 - Curbed New York

High Line Crowds

How to Prevent 'Green Gentrification'

A new report examines a range of strategies that limit the displacement effects of park projects.

September 28 - CityLab

Single Family Residential Construction

Not Enough Housing, Or Too Much of the Wrong Kind

Permits for new housing continue to lag despite a long economic boom. For coastal metros, it's a familiar story of job growth outpacing new construction. In some Sun Belt cities, sprawl is the bigger concern.

September 27 - CityLab

Mobile Phones

Report: Dangers of Pedestrian Texting Overblown

Distracted walking is never a great idea. But in New York City at least, texting while walking only led to 2 out of 534 pedestrian deaths from 2014 through 2017.

September 27 - New York Daily News

Another McMansion

Behind America's Fixation on Big Houses

McMansion or not, the American home is a good 600 to 800 square feet larger than the average in most other countries. Possible reasons run the gamut from policy to culture to personal economics.

September 27 - The Atlantic

Pedestrians

U.S. Lagging in Making Streets Safer for Pedestrians

Pedestrian deaths are on the rise in the United States, but cities have been slow to implement effective policies and road design measures to change the trend.

September 27 - Los Angeles Times

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Planning for Universal Design

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