The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Planners Driving Californians Out Of State
In this opinion piece, transportation consultant Wendell Cox explains why residents are fleeing CA in droves. By not providing single family homes Cox feels most want, residents must find their quarter-acre lots elsewhere. He blames regional plans.
Probing the False Sense of Security in Gated Communities
Edward Blakely, co-author of “Fortress America: Gated Communities in the United States,” pens an opinion piece for <em>The Washington Post</em> looking at the detrimental psychology that exists in gated communities such as where Trayvon Martin died.
Long-Awaited Pompeii Preservation Plan Unveiled
Elisabetta Povoledo reports on a long-term plan unveiled last week to protect Pompeii from the impact of nature, tourists, and organized crime.
As the Enclosed Mall Era Fades, Learning Lessons, Both Bad and Good
For all the bad press that the traditional enclosed mall receives today from planners, there are certainly retail strategies they excelled at that will be pertinent long into the future, argues Geoff Dyer.
CicLAvia: A Celebration of the Street, Minus the Roaring Engines
Hillel Aron unravels the long and arduous journey that community activists took to make LA's newest public tradition a reality.
Do Compact Cities Dream of Electric Cars?
New research suggests that the electrification of automobiles can undermine planning efforts to create denser development patterns and may work against policies that encourage non-motorized forms of mobility, such as biking and walking.
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Avoiding Undesirable Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Planners strive to anticipate future needs, which sometimes creates self-fulfilling prophecies: by preparing for a situation we help cause it. This is particularly true of automobile dependency. Planning decisions intended to accommodate automobile.
New Visualization Tool Could Transform Project Impact Analysis
Ariel Schwartz profiles a promising new 3-D tool that allows planners to visualize traffic, noise, and pollution impacts of proposed projects.
Winning an Uphill Battle for Transit
Marie Cusick reports on a community driven effort to bring bus service to a challenged neighborhood in Albany, New York.
The Surprisingly Cheap Path to Halting Climate Change
James West reports on the findings of a new report from the United Kingdom's leading climate change watchdog that confirms stopping climate change is much cheaper than you might think.
Is Generation Y Weaning Off the Automobile?
Angie Schmitt discusses new research from U.S. PIRG indicating youngsters are relying on their cars less than the generation before them, motivated by more than just thinning pocketbooks.
Held Up by Environmental Litigation, Playa Vista Finally Gets Its Own Downtown
After a hard-won legal battle, Los Angeles' youngest coastal community can finally begin construction on its mixed-use downtown, report Roger Vincent and Martha Groves.
When Does It Make Sense for a City to Downsize?
Roberta Brandes Gratz examines New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward to make the case that even neighborhoods past their prime are worth fighting for.
Little Boxes on the Hillside, in China and Beyond
Nate Berg offers his take on the replicas of Western subdivisions that have come to define social status in the burgeoning economies of the Middle and Far East.
Establishing Public Health As An Integral Part of Decision-Making
Ben Goldman looks at the findings in a new paper released by the Pew Health Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, that aims to identify opportunities to increase the utilization of Health Impact Assessments (HIA).
No Allen Key Required
The furniture giant Ikea is planning a huge urban renewal project in East London -- a privately-owned, eco-friendly development in which all housing is rented. Doug Saunders visits the proposed site to see the future of managed living for himself.
High-Speed Rail's Cap & Trade Gamble
While the revised business plan did shave off $30 billion, there remains a $55 billion funding shortfall. Dependent on federal and private funds that may never appear, could revenue from the sale of carbon credits bridge the funding gap?
Friday Funny: Cats + Buildings = Fun
Some architecture students at UC Berkeley were incredibly busy over Spring Break. Polishing their portfolios or getting ahead on course reading, you ask? Nope. Developing a trove of Architectural LOLCATS.
Downtown LA Stadium Developers Release 10,000 Page EIR
David Zahniser and Ari Bloomekatz report on yesterday's release of the EIR for a proposed $1 billion football stadium in downtown LA, by developer AEG, which intends to take significant steps to encourage event-goers to use mass transit.
New Riverfront Rail Trail in America's "Most Livable City"
Pittsburgh is smoothing over the residue of its industrial past, turning an abandoned railway into a waterfront park, Paige Miller reports.
Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission
City of Mt Shasta
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
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.
