The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Friday Funny: Gated Community Doubles Down
The Onion skewers suburbia.
‘Cut the Tape’ Report Takes Aim at Inefficiencies
A set of recommendations from the Chicago mayor’s office calls for streamlining city processes to stimulate more residential and commercial development.
Alexandria’s Hopes for Stadium Deal Dashed
The city hoped a stadium for DC-area teams would anchor a new, high-density development in a vacant lot.
Western Solar Plan Charts Course for Development on Public Lands
The BLM’s proposed maps could open up as much as 55 million acres to solar installations.
California Water Plan Readies State for Climate-Impacted Future
A wet winter will replenish the state’s snowpack and reservoirs, but could also increase flooding and wildfire risk in some areas.
Chicago Trains Make More Room for Bikes
Since Metro launched a new bike-friendly policy in February, the number of bikes on its trains rose by 70 percent.
FEATURE
Fair Housing Cannot Take a Back Seat to ‘Build, Baby, Build’
If we overlook fair housing principles in the plan to build US housing back better, we risk ending up right back where we started.
Transit Ridership Continues its Slow Recovery
Ridership grew by 16 percent between 2022 and 2023.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
When Driving Isn't an Option: Steering Away From Car Dependency
Disability advocate Anna Zivarts' new book, “When Driving Isn't An Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency,” explores why and how transportation planning can better serve nondrivers to create a better quality of life for everyone.
NYC To Transition to Pay-by-Plate Parking Meters
The new meters eliminate paper receipts and provide real-time data to enforcement agents.
How to Stop the ‘Growth Ponzi Scheme’
Even cities with wealthy tax bases and strong economies face budget shortfalls when it comes to basic needs. Why?
Los Angeles Receives $900M for Infrastructure Ahead of 2028 Olympics
The influx of federal dollars comes as LA has just four more years to complete ambitious transit improvement plans before it is due to host the Summer Olympic Games.
Balancing Road Diets With Emergency Access
Examples from the Netherlands show how bike lanes and traffic calming can coexist with effective emergency response.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Industry Leaders: Automakers Must Cut EV Battery Weight in Half
Experts call for lighter batteries, diversification of fuels, and a shift away from private cars and towrad public transit.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
New Jersey Passes Fair Housing Reform
A new law streamlines and clarifies the state’s affordable housing requirements for cities and towns.
BLOG POST
March’s Must-Reads: Our Top 10 Articles from Last Month
Planetizen readers were most interested in March stories about Oregon’s urban growth boundary, New York City congestion pricing, planning with AI, parking reform, and more.
Making TOD More Viable
Tying housing and land acquisition funding to transit projects could make dense, walkable development easier and more cost-effective.
Pagination
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
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.