The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Safety Improvements Needed for Pacific Coast Highway Through Malibu

A consistently miserable record of crashes and fatalities, including pedestrians and collisions with parked cars, is compelling the city of Malibu to undertake a large number of safety improvement projects along the Pacific Coast Highway.

August 5 - Los Angeles Times

Mapping the Location and Scale of U.S. Electricity Capacity

A series of maps from The Washington Post answers the questions of how and where the United States gets its energy.

August 5 - The Washington Post

Seattle skyline

Downtown Seattle Works to Curb Driving as it Grows

With the highest levels of construction in over a decade, the city is working to reduce traffic congestion.

August 5 - Next City

Meet the Woman Guiding California to 100% Electric Vehicles by 2030

One of the most influential environmental regulators may be someone you never heard of. She is Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board—twice over. She is pushing automakers to exceed the current 2025 goal for electric vehicles.

August 5 - Bloomberg News

Gentrification

Calculator Answers the Question: Are You a Gentrifier?

Let the debate ensue about the accuracy (not to mention the appropriateness) of the "Gentrifier Calculator" exercise.

August 5 - Slate


5 Lessons from the Growing Open Streets Movement

As Open Streets events become more popular and spread to cities all over the world, emerging trends show how to make the most of the opportunity to reclaim streets from cars for a few hours.

August 5 - Open Streets Project

Utah's Disappearing Salt Flats Cause Controversy

A well-attended racing event was cancelled for the second year in a row on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Organizers are worried the salt flats might never be the same.

August 4 - Associated Press via Detroit Free Press


Op-Ed: Nashville Should Coordinate Transit, Housing Plans

Urban planning is front in center in Nashville, with a general plan update underway and a mayoral election looming on August 6. One candidate took to the editorial pages of The Tennessean to lay out a housing and transit agenda.

August 4 - The Tennessean

Swords Into Ploughshares: Guns Transformed Into Rebar for Bridges and Freeways

Guns taken off the streets by California police agencies have become a new source of materials for steel reinforcement on bridges and freeways around the Southwest.

August 4 - Global Construction Review

San Francisco Bikers Score a Point for the Idaho Stop

Last week, along a popular San Francisco bike route, a group of protestors took to their bikes to advocate for new laws, such as the Idaho Stop, that make it easier to bike in the city.

August 4 - SF Weekly

No Luxury Condos

BLOG POST

What's the Matter With the Planning Process?

Current planning models places housing affordability and preservation fundamentally at odds with one another. We must be willing to re-evaluate our processes if we are to truly move forward.

August 4 - Reuben Duarte

Seattle to Rely on Green Stormwater Infrastructure

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has released a draft plan to overhaul the city's stormwater infrastructure to reduce the pollution levels in Puget Sound.

August 4 - WaterWorld

The Great New York Tree Census

Inside access to a huge volunteer effort underway in New York City to account for the condition of an estimated 600,000 street trees—where every single one of the city's trees counts.

August 4 - The Nature of Cities

Old Timey Ticky Tacky

400 Years of Single-Family Homes in America

A data visualization project illustrates the long and varied traditions of American single-family housing.

August 4 - The Washington Post

Traffic and Speed

End These 5 Transportation Planning 'Rule of Thumbs'

An op-ed calls for an end to five examples of them planning status quo, and recommends four new "rule of thumbs" that can provide a better model for the transportation planning of the future.

August 4 - City Observatory City Commentary

Human-Centered Design

FEATURE

Innovating the Planning Process Through Community-Centered Design

Sean O'Malley and Andrew Watkins, of the landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firm SWA, describe the benefits of a design process that empowers people and communities to participate.

August 4 - Sean O'Malley and Andrew Watkins

President Obama's Clean Power Plan Is Nation's Strongest Climate Initiative

Just over a year ago President Obama's draft Clean Power Plan was unveiled. That proposal has been finalized and the president promoted it at a press event on Monday. The final rule is both stronger and more lenient that the original proposal.

August 3 - The Guardian

A Really, Really Big Fuel Cell Vehicle Possibly Coming to the Bay Area

This vehicle would be larger than a Hummer, a bus, and even an 18-wheeler. Then again, it would not travel on land. The proposal goes by an appropriate acronym: SF-BREEZE. Think fresh air over the bay.

August 3 - AASHTO Journal

Harnessing Social Resilience in the Rust Belt

Paterson, New Jersey's diverse immigrant population holds the potential to revive the city's declining economy. Writer Jeff Byles documents key resources the city has and how similar postindustrial cities have harnessed community-driven planning.

August 3 - Doggerel

Tokyo Skyline

A Highly Subjective Ranking of World Cities

Toronto, Tokyo, and Helsinki may have little in common, but they all top Metropolis Magazine's list of the world's most liveable cities, as named by an expert panel of designers and urbanists. Eight runnners-up were named in a variety of categories.

August 3 - Metropolis Magazine

Post News

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.