The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

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Are Tall Buildings Safer When It Floods?
Conventional wisdom is that the most resilient city is that keeps high-density housing out of flood zones. But if flooding can happen miles inland, is that still true?

TOD Plans Take Shape in Prince George's County
The historically car-dependent county is hoping the planned revitalization of the Blue Line Corridor will boost the local economy and help maintain affordable housing.

FEATURE
Sustainable Real Estate Investments Are No Longer Optional
Greenwashing won't cut it anymore, and investors are increasingly demanding that all real estate developments and existing assets be assessed in the most holistic way possible.

20 Years After 9/11: The 'Age of Skyscrapers' Is Nowhere Near Over
Despite predictions that the events of September 11, 2001 would be the end of skyscrapers, U.S. cities are building more tall buildings than ever.

A Stark Picture of the Climate Gap in the Coachella Valley
In the low desert of Southern California, dwindling water supplies and a lack of infrastructure funding pose major challenges for working-class communities struggling to survive.

Schoolyards as a Solution for Park-Poor Cities
Opening schoolyards to the public could be 'game-changing' for communities lacking in green space.

Democratic Legislators Obstruct Funding for California High Speed Rail
Voters approved a $9.9 billion bond for the California High Speed Rail project in 2008. State legislators would like that money to be spent in other ways in 2021.

Plan Would Add Thousands of New Black, Latino Homeowners in Milwaukee
A new plan to add 18,000 affordable housing units in Milwaukee is the latest in a string of efforts by the city to ensure housing affordability to all income levels and address the racial homeownership gap in the city.

St. Paul Voters Could Pass the Nation's Strictest Rent Stabilization Ordinance
The extremely strict proposal would eliminate sharp rent increases, but could stifle housing construction and worsen the city's housing crisis.

Boston to Leverage Private Developers for a New Climate Resiliency Fund
It's going to take a lot of funding to build the infrastructure to protect coastal cities from rising seas as climate change takes hold. The city of Boston is starting to experiment with revenue sources that can fund the necessary improvements.

Planned Highway Expansion Would Cut Into Black Community in Charleston
The Biden administration's efforts to curb the tendency of highway expansions to cut into Black communities will be tested by the West I-526 Lowcountry Corridor plan in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Public Health Experts Question CDC Catchphrase, 'Pandemic of the Unvaccinated'
Five public health experts and a pollster take issue with calling the COVID crisis a 'pandemic of the unvaccinated,' suggesting it may be inappropriate, provocative, and not only ineffective but possibly counterproductive in increasing vaccinations.

Why Tech-Utopian City Plans Fail
Like others before him, e-commerce billionaire Marc Lore wants to build the ideal city from scratch. Urban experts don't have much faith in his chances.

The Consequences of Community Engagement
Long, onerous environmental review processes focused on public input can cause major delays and cost increases for infrastructure and transportation projects.

Dallas Launches New Comprehensive Plan Process—15 Years After ForwardDallas
The city of Dallas adopted the ForwardDallas plan in 2006, setting a grand ambition for a more walkable, transit-friendly city. Some of the work toward that vision will have to continue with the next comprehensive plan.

The Pandemic Effect: Landlord Edition
A new survey highlights the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on small landlords, who provide much of the nation's low-cost rental housing.

Zoning Change to Create More Marijuana Business Opportunities in Chicago
By opening more of downtown Chicago to pot shops, the city hopes that more minority businesses owners can get in on the lucrative business of marijuana.

New York Needs Permeable Streets to Mitigate Future Flooding
To reduce the severity of disruptive subway flooding, the city can implement street-level solutions that absorb and redirect water before it reaches the train tunnels.

Mobile Home Parks Becoming Unaffordable as Investors Buy Up Properties
Longtime residents of mobile home parks are seeing their land rents go up as corporate investors seek to increase profits, aided in part by federally-backed loans.

An Ambitious Revitalization Agenda for Downtown Anchorage
A new mayoral administration in Anchorage has its sights set on a revitalized urban core, but one local researcher has suggestions for how to expand that vision.
Pagination
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
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)
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