The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Atlanta Swelling With Coastal Florida Expatriates
<p>Fear of hurricanes, high housing costs, and prohibitive insurance premiums are driving coastal Florida residents north to Atlanta. Real estate agents and developers are happy, but the region is already strained by growth.</p>
Troubled L.A. Suburb Manages Dramatic Turnaround
<p>Through a myriad of efforts -- including helping residents install picket fences -- the once ailing suburb of Paramount, California, is now on the rise.</p>
Will The Sunbelt Dry Up?
<p>Drought and shrinking water supplies could pose serious limits to growth in the American southwest and southeast.</p>
Six States To Study Replacing Fuel Excise Taxes With Mileage Fees
<p>An ambitious study to charge motorists by the mile, which hopes to address decreasing gas tax revenue for both states and the federal government, will begin in North Carolina's Research Triangle.</p>
Look At Houston In A Different Light, Argues Kotkin
<p>Often maligned by by most planners and urbanists, the City of Houston, Texas, receives a glowing defense from Joel Kotkin.</p>
Making The Case For Accessory Units In Denver
<p>With the city's zoning code set to be updated, one expert urges Denver to allow the construction of granny flats to provide housing and generate rental income for families.</p>
Slums As The Next Hot Real Estate Market?
<p>Mumbai is considering a plan to sell off a slum to developers, who will be obligated to relocate the residents in exchange for rights to build in what is becoming prime real estate.</p>
BLOG POST
Simple is the Concept
<p class="MsoNormal">“Getting” Universal Design creates an “Aha!” moment. Experiencing Universal Design creates a “Wow!” moment.<span> </span></p>
The Housing Facade Is Just A Facade
<p>This column bemoans the stark architectural differences between the insides and outsides of suburban houses.</p>
BLOG POST
Highway Zoning?
<p style="line-height: 150%" class="MsoNormal">The Oscar-winning film <em>The Lives of Others</em> recalls that famous question about governments who spy on their citizens: Who will watch the watchers? (Answer: Alberto Gonzalez.) A similar, if less cloak-and-dagger question applies to planning: Who will zone the zoners? While governments use zoning to keep polluting uses away from homes, what if the biggest polluter in a city is a government use?</p><p style="line-height: 150%" class="MsoNormal">In most cities today, the most common polluting use is exempt from zoning: highways.</p>
BLOG POST
A Tale of Two Public Processes
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Over the last few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to attend public meetings in Europe and the American South. I find public meetings to be an entertaining challenge. Let’s face it, a public meeting is always a gamble. You’re at the mercy of whoever shows up and whatever they perceive about the project. You have to think on your feet and make quick decisions to guide the process, without looking like I’m-in-control-here-Alexander-Haig.</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font> </p>
Worries Over UGB-Splitting Bill And The Onslaught Of Sprawl
<p>A powerful home builders lobby in Oregon helped push a bill through the state legislature that some say threatens the urban growth boundary for the city of Eugene, and essentially opens the flood gates for sprawl in the area.</p>
The New Face Of Public Housing
<p>A formerly crime-ridden public housing project has been redeveloped as a HUD Hope VI project. Many see as a successful turnaround, bringing in subsidized renters and buyers as well as market-rate homeowners.</p>
Washington Needed After All?
<p>Much has been made recently about how U.S. municipal and state governments aren't waiting for the federal government to act on climate change. Now it appears that these efforts can't succeed without Washington.</p>
High Bottled Water Spending Prompts City Ban
<p>Amid revelations that San Francisco City government had been spending almost half a million dollars a year on bottled water, the mayor has instituted a ban that would require all government water use to come straight from the tap.</p>
Minneapolis Looks To Crack Down On McMansions
<p>The Minneapolis City Council has proposed measures that would limit the size of new houses in the city -- a move targeting oversized 'McMansion' homes that already account for about 1% of the housing stock.</p>
Conservation Easements On The Rise
<p>With a favorable federal tax incentive, more and more people are donating land in the form of conservation easements -- agreements that set aside the land and prevent future development.</p>
Bruegmann: Sprawl Is Natural And Is Part Of History
<p>Once considered "sprawl" by Londoners, the city's row houses now form the essence of the city. Are attacks of sprawl in the US built on "an extremely shaky foundation of class-based aesthetic assumptions and misinformation?"</p>
The Growing Popularity Of 'Pay-To-Drive' Schemes
<p>Drivers are increasingly looking to save not only time but also gas money by utilizing high occupancy toll lanes in cities that have implemented tolls.</p>
Architects Redefining The Public Library
<p>Architype profiles 8 new and renovated urban public libraries in the words of their design teams.</p>
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
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.
