The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
In Praise of Cincinnati's Progressive Urbanism
Alan G. Brake celebrates the Queen City's utilization of public space, place making, and mixed-use development to build its competitive advantage, despite America's "deep-seated anti-urban streak."
Haggling Over High-Speed Rail Funds
Burgess Everett and Adam Snider look at the growing debate over where to allocate limited high-speed rail funds: on the East Coast, where rail already has a foothold, or out West, where California has the land and starter funds to make it happen.
Urban Equity to be Focus of New Academic Center
Launched May 1 within the Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York, the new J. Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City will pursue the ways in which design can make "American cities more just and inclusive places to live."
What Are the Most Bikeable Cities?
The folks behind Walk Score, the incredibly popular walkability measure, are beta testing a new metric that judges the bikeability of cities, writes Jess Zimmerman.
Will "Rebel Cities" Revolt Against Global Inequality?
In this interview with Marxist scholar David Harvey, Aaron Leonard discusses the author's new book, "Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution."
List of Top Buildings That Changed America Unveiled
The subject of a television series to be aired in 2013, PBS has unveiled its list of the top ten buildings that have "changed the way Americans live, work and play," reports Karissa Rosenfield.
Amman's Subjective Cartography
How do you navigate a city with no street names? This is the question Amanda Erickson sets out to answer in an article on photographer Regina Mamou, who spent a year studying how the people of Amman get around.
In Race to Be the Tallest, Who Has Final Say?
As developers around the world seek to steal the coveted title of "World's Tallest Building", Carl Bialik looks at what defines a building, and who gets to decide.
High-Speed Train Will Require High-Speed Spending
Guidelines attached to the federal funds intended to help pay for the first phase of California's bullet train will require the fastest rate of transportation construction known in U.S. history, reports Ralph Vartabedian.
Towards a More Nuanced Understanding of Density
Arguing for the value of historic low and mid-rise, but also dense, areas of Brooklyn, Washington D.C., and New Orleans, Edward T. McMahon asks us to reconsider the pursuit of density as an end in itself, and the high-rise as its fullest expression.
Where Should You Take Your Diploma?
Just graduated? For the 60% of you who won't be moving back home, Richard Florida examines the best places for college grads to find jobs, housing, friends, and a little spending money.
Fashioning a New Los Angeles Along Its Boulevards
Christopher Hawthorne begins a series exploring the ways in which L.A. is utilizing its boulevards to try on "a post-suburban identity for the first time", with a look at Atlantic Boulevard, a major north-south spine.
Vermont Towns Battle to Maintain a Sense of Place
Chain store opponents in Vermont battle to preserve the uniqueness of their small towns by pushing against a planned Dollar General Store. While a review board narrowly approved a plan, it also attached a lengthy list of restrictions.
At 20, CNU Gets a Fresh Look
Attending her first CNU conference, Erin Chantry confronts the myths and the maxims attributed to the theology of New Urbanism in this review of the energetic debate between Andres Duany and Daniel Solomon at the conference plenary session.
CBO: The Collision Course of Fuel Efficiency Standards and Transportation Revenue
Ann Mesnikoff, Director of the Sierra Club Green Transportation Campaign, looks at the CBO's Highway Trust Fund report on the relationship between fuel economy standards and projected gas tax revenues, and finds it too hypothetical.
America's Mass Transit and Renewable Energy Delusions
Michael Lind argues that the version of the nation's infrastructure priorities we've been sold is a fallacy, and he has some suggestions for the kind of infrastructure we really need.
Vital Census Tool Gets Axe in the House
Jason Jordan reports on last week's stunning vote in the House of Representatives to eliminate the American Community Survey (ACS) in its entirety.
Can A Charter City Save Honduras?
Adam Davidson explores Honduras's experimentation with economist Paul Romer's theories on the need for poor countries to build special economic development zones that essentially "start from scratch" with new legal and political systems.
Healthcare Fuels Pittsburgh's Comeback
The onetime steel capital's transition to an economy based on the healthcare sector has helped Pittsburgh emerge from the recession much quicker than many other cities, bringing welcome jobs and questions about its sustainability, reports Don Lee.
Design for Chicago's Bloomingdale Trail Takes Shape
As it wraps up the first stage of a community planning progress, Alan G. Brake checks in on the latest designs for Chicago's answer to the High Line.
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
planning NEXT
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
