The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Chicago River

Fortress No Longer: What's in Store for Willis Tower

Designed for a different era, Willis Tower's pedestrian-phobic base is in line for a complete overhaul. The goal is to open the immense tower to the street.

February 7 - Chicago Sun-Times

Rolling Digital Billboards Hit New Orleans' Streets

A southern Louisiana company is bringing a mobile, four-sided digital billboard to the streets of New Orleans

February 7 - The Advocate (Louisiana)

Porter Ranch

BLOG POST

Vouchers Can Work, But...

School vouchers might expand educational choice and thus make city life more appealing to middle-class families—but the most appealing versions of a voucher system are also the most costly.

February 7 - Michael Lewyn

Atlanta Braves Country

Georgia State Senate Pumps the Breaks on Cityhood Processes

Atlanta's quickly growing region means many communities are seeking to incorporate. Several controversial processes, however, have compelled the state to reform the incorporation process.

February 6 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Forbidden City

Spare the Air: Beijing to Drastically Reduce Coal Use

Beijing promises "extraordinary" measures to reduce pollution in the infamously smoggy city.

February 6 - Scientific American


Airbnb

D.C. Bill Would Restrict Short-Term Rentals

The nation's capital could join other cities around the country in drastically limiting the use of Airbnb and other short-term rental companies.

February 6 - WAMU

Google Maps

Google Maps Update Opens New Access to Mobility and Culture

Google Maps and other navigation and mapping apps have done a lot to inspire and educate people to make the most of their surroundings. New changes to the Google Maps app will add new functionality for those purposes.

February 6 - Google


Evanston, Illinois

Know of Any 'Suburbs in Name Only'?

No cities are entirely urban, or even similar from one neighborhood to the next. The Corner Side Yard has some fun thinking about which Chicago neighborhoods we "Chicago in Name Only" and which of its suburbs are "Suburbs in Name Only."

February 6 - The Corner Side Yard

Palm Springs

California Stuck With an Expensive Overabundance of Energy Facilities

The Los Angeles Times uncovers a state with a lot more energy that it needs, which has regulators explaining their decisions residents and businesses opening their wallets.

February 6 - The Los Angeles Times

Akron, Ohio

A New Housing Strategy for Akron, Ohio

The city of Akron has lost 93,000 residents since 1960, so it has room to grow. Now it has a draft housing plan that uses a tax abatement program modeled on examples in Cleveland and Cuyahoga Falls.

February 6 - Akron Beacon Journal

Baltimore Students Have to Adjust to Newly Limited Access to Buses

A local politician resorted to holding a bake sale to help fund free bus service for students.

February 6 - The Baltimore Sun

Legislation to Toll Indiana Interstates and Hike Gas Tax Introduced

Tolls on interstate highways are being pushed in Indiana as a means to increase road funding, no easy task even if a waiver is given. The bill would also increase the gas tax and charge electric vehicle owners a fee for road maintenance.

February 6 - Governing

Oklahoma Gas Tax Hike Faces Multiple Hurdles

Oklahoma is among a number of Republican-controlled states considering gas tax legislation, particularly since it faces a budget gap of $900 million. Bills to hike the tax are expected to be proposed this month, but they face formidable challenges.

February 6 - StateImpact Oklahoma

Rental Construction

Freddie Mac Releases its 2017 Multifamily Housing Market Forecast

A new report from Freddie Mac predicts rising rents and rising vacancy rates in the national multifamily market. The report also compares submarkets.

February 5 - MultifamilyBiz

Metro Gold Line

SoCal's Gold Line Extension Delayed Two Years

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) planned Gold Line extension is now scheduled to finish construction in 2025.

February 5 - The San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Cincinnati Over-the-Rhine

Black Entrepreneurship in a Gentrifying Cincinnati Neighborhood

As Over-the-Rhine becomes a more prosperous neighborhood, some have undertaken efforts to make sure the long-time residents don't get left behind.

February 5 - Next City

Sweden

Sweden Targets Carbon Neutrality

As the lawmakers in Washington, D.C. prepare to gut the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, environmentalists got inspiring news from the country of Sweden.

February 5 - Climate Home

Governor Larry Hogan

Maryland Transportation Planning Decisions Under Civil Rights Scrutiny

The infamous cancellation of the Red Line, a decision made by Gov. Larry Hogan shortly after he took office, is a high-profile example of how the state's transportation decisions are short-changing people of color.

February 5 - Streetsblog USA

Midway Airport

Homes Near Chicago's Midway Airport to Receive Soundproofing

The city of Chicago intends to soundproof more homes this year than any in the 20-year history of the city's soundproofing program, insulating homes from the noise generated by the city's south side airport.

February 4 - Chicago Tribune

The Tenderloin

Nation's First Transgender Cultural Historic District Coming to San Francisco

Developers will fund the Compton's Cafeteria Transgender, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual District to quell opposition to a proposed mixed-use development in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco.

February 4 - The Architect's Newspaper

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Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.