The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
A Sunbaked New Mexico Hits its Boiling Point
Harsh climate and persistent drought have accelerated New Mexico's desertification over three years of record-breaking heat. With 87% of the Western U.S. experiencing a drought, is New Mexico the canary in the coal mine for an increasingly arid area?
Second Transcontinental Pipeline May Succeed if Keystone XL Fails
As the Keystone XL pipeline project remains mired in political muck, a second pipeline project is quietly moving toward approval.
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Top 10 Websites - 2013
Our annual list of the 10 best planning, design, and development websites represents some of the top online resources for news, information and research on the built environment.
Oil and Gas Revenue May Fund Texas Roads
The nation's largest oil and natural gas producer is flush with revenue from energy production. If Gov. Rick Perry signs the bill supported by two-thirds of both chambers, voters will decide whether to use about $1.2 billion of it annually for roads.
Controversial Projects Reveal Faults in L.A.'s Seismic Safety Review
Recent controversies surrounding large-scale projects in Hollywood approved without comprehensive seismic evaluations reveal gaps between California construction laws and the City of Los Angeles's ability to enforce them.
Why Are Young Adults Returning to the City?
Much has been said about Millennials — the generation born from 1980 through the late 1990s, sometimes called Gen Y and Echo Boomers — choosing downtown living. Is it in rebellion to their suburban upbringing, or something more?
Construction Toys: The Building Blocks of Design Culture
A recent book explores the ways in which the world's ubiquitous construction toys - Lincoln Logs, Legos, Meccano, etc. - have impacted budding architects, and proposes a connection between building for play and building for pay.
Protected Bike Lanes May Receive Federal Recognition
While protected bike lanes have yet to be recognized by AASHTO, they are en route to being recognized by US DOT, writes Green Lane Project's Michael Andersen. With federal guidance, transportation engineers may be more willing to build cycle tracks.
Detroit Default Ripples Through Municipal Bond Market
The Motor City is the not the only victim of the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Local governments across Michigan are now encountering substantial obstacles to borrowing amid concerns about the security of municipal bonds.
Light Pollution in Rural Virginia: A Photo Essay
The End of Night author Paul Bogard works with photography student Jennifer Tremblay to showcase light pollution in the Shenandoah Valley town of Harrisonburg.
London Recycling Bins Take a Page out of NSA Spy Book
The startup Renew has taken targeted advertising to a whole new level. Its Internet-connected recycling bins look for cell phones they recognize, then alter their video displays accordingly.
The Grand Plans that Failed to Save Detroit
The $500 million Renaissance Center, a 2.9-mile People Mover, and new downtown sports stadiums are just some of the grand schemes that were supposed to help arrest Detroit's decades-long decline.
Lessons From a Model Mixed-Income Community
25 years ago, the conversion of 1950's era public housing into a mixed-income community on Columbia Point in Boston provided the template for the federal government's Hope VI program. How has this seminal project withstood the test of time?
Rising Costs Threaten to Thwart UK High-Speed Rail
Britain's grand plan to halve travel times between the country's biggest cities and expand economic growth outside London via high-speed rail is getting pushback from the very places it's meant to help.
Upward Mobility Correlates to Walk Score
New data supports Paul Krugman's contention that sprawl inhibits the American Dream.
Death By Auto: Are They Always Accidents?
Sarah Goodyear describes the greater implications of the carnage caused by a motorist intent on mowing down as many pedestrians as possible on the Venice boardwalk in L.A. on August 03. It wasn't the first time a car caused mayhem in a public space.
Study Details SFpark's Surprising Results
The preliminary results are in for America's most ambitious experiment in demand-based parking pricing. Among the surprises: the average price at the spaces participating in San Francisco's pioneering program actually declined by 1 percent.
Hipsters Flee as Invasion of the Baby Boomers Picks Up Speed
In the hip neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Seattle, and Denver, a silver tsunami is joining, and often forcing out, tattooed and mustachioed Millennials, as retiring Baby Boomers increasingly embrace urban living.
Crowdsourced Project Turns British Streets Into Massive Art Gallery
At 22,000 sites across the United Kingdom, space normally reserved for billboards and poster advertisements will become frames for great works of art. For the Art Everywhere project, the public played curator and donated online to help pay the costs.
Friday Funny: America's Most Clueless Transportation Officials
Streetsblog is running a humorous, and sadly disturbing, competition to find the most moronic statements uttered by state and local transportation officials. Meet North America's "Motor Mouths".
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.
