The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Meet the 'One-Man Community Redevelopment Machine'

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette profiles a man in a small town in Pennsylvania that does a pretty good impression of Santa Claus, if you ask us.

December 27 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Popularity of Electric Vehicles Threatens Viability of Bay Area's Express Lanes

The California DMV announced that the maximum of 85,000 Green Clean Air Vehicle Decals had been issued to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, denying new Volt and plug-in Prius owners the coveted sticker allowing them free access to HOV and HOT lanes.

December 26 - San Jose Mercury News

New York City Zoning Map

A National Consensus on Zoning? Not So Fast

The issue of zoning might be a place for wonks of both the conservatives and the liberal variety to find middle ground, but zoning in the real world is more contentious than consensus.

December 26 - City Observatory

Portland Houses

Portland Updating Regulations for Infill in Single-Family Residential Neighborhoods

Portland is tackling a critical but often controversial issue: how to regulate infill development in residential neighborhoods when growth is pushing landowners and developers to build bigger and denser.

December 26 - City of Portland

Austin Transit Planners Regroup After Bond Defeat

The voters of Austin rejected a $1 billion transportation bond in 2014, but transit advocates and Capital Metro staff are already reorganizing to make a new pitch for transit in the quickly growing city.

December 26 - Community Impact Newspaper


Civil Rights Activists Target Baltimore Red Line Cancellation

A complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation alleges that Maryland Gov. Hogan's decision to cancel the long-planned Red Line rail project violates the Civil Rights Act.

December 26 - The Washington Post- Wonkblog

Vote on 2015's Best and Worst Developments in Streets

Streetsblog is calling for voters in the 2015 Streetsie awards—make your opinion count about the year's biggest developments in multi-modal transportation.

December 25 - Streetsblog USA


Friday Eye Candy: Explore a Changing New York From Above

A little Christmas Day diversion for those who never stop thinking about cities.

December 25 - Urban Scratchoff

Endangered Places in 2015: Texas Dancehalls

Dancehalls—places for small-town Texans to gather for community—are struggling to survive in a changing Texas.

December 25 - The Dallas Morning News

For Christmas 2016: A Video Game to Explore the Physics of Architecture

Couldn't find what the perfect gift for the plannerd in your life? There's always next year.

December 25 - CityLab

All the Places to Celebrate Christmas in July

Make a note of these places for tomorrow when you realize Christmas is 364 days away.

December 25 - CityLab

Five Surprising Facts About L.A.'s Homeless and How to End Homelessness

Ever have questions about the homeless? Here's a fact filled outline you can use to dispel some common notions about the country's largest homeless population—and some solutions—by affordable housing adviser Michael P. Russell.

December 24 - UrbDeZine

Los Angeles Downtown Historic Core

Best Practices for Downtown Revitalization

Downtown revitalization comes in all shapes and sizes. A new, free guidebook from Smart Growth America offers advice for making revitalization work.

December 24 - Urban Land

Crosswalk no daylight

Staten Island Hasn't Seen the Good Side of Vision Zero

The early results of New York City's far reaching Vision Zero initiative to reduce traffic fatalities to zero has produced positive results—everywhere except Staten Island.

December 24 - SI Live

Orange Line Bus

Remix Promises to Streamline Transit Planning

Based out of San Francisco, Remix is an intuitive, data-rich tool for transit planners as they consider new routes. All you need to do is draw out the line on a map and add stops.

December 24 - Next City

Shanghai Shopping

Visualizing Global Urban Growth Through 2030

Geographer Duncan Smith mapped the predicted trajectory of worldwide urban growth from 1950 through 2030. Concentric circles of different shades show where and when growth was (or will be) the most dramatic.

December 24 - CityLab

Uber Car

Uber's Impact on the New York Rush Hour

Researchers found a small uptick in Manhattan traffic during rush hour, as Uber gains more riders from 4 to 7 p.m. than taxis lose. Uber also holds general sway over the other boroughs when it comes to for-hire vehicles.

December 23 - FiveThirtyEight

Both Sides of the Controversial Renewal of the EB-5 Immigration Program

A regional perspective on the Congressional action to renew the controversial EB-5 program.

December 23 - KPCC

Downtown Detroit

Detroit First U.S. City Awarded U.N's 'City of Design' Status

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has recognized the singularity of Detroit, dubbing the motor city the country's first "City of Design."

December 23 - Crain's Detroit Business

Pedestrian Overpass

What's Wrong With Removing Sidewalks in the Name of Pedestrian Safety?

Broken Sidewalk analyzes an example of the kind of street design decisions continuing to encroach on pedestrian infrastructure around the country. The case study: Ninth Street in Louisville.

December 23 - Broken Sidewalk

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Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.

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.