The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
How to End the Commute Nightmare
The pandemic let many people experience a commute-free lifestyle, but can we reduce rush-hour traffic as we make our return to physical workplaces?
D.C. Transit Implementing Major Changes, Hopes to Boost Ridership
Flat fares, reduced wait times, and extended late-night service are all part of a package of changes meant to bring riders back and adjust to post-pandemic travel patterns.
PLANOPEDIA
What Are Master Planned Communities?
Now frequently associated with retirees and sprawling developments in the U.S. Sun Belt, master planned communities, also known as new towns or planned communities, were invented as an escape from the haphazard growth of urban areas in the mid-20th century.
California Judge Renders Gig Worker Law Unenforceable
A judge ruled against California's Proposition 22, which let ride-hailing and delivery businesses classify workers as independent contractors and discouraged unionization efforts.
Comprehensive Planning Sucks. Here's One Attempt to Make It Better
Thirty community organizations have come together to deliver a response to Oakland's RFP for a comprehensive planning consultant. It's one of three proposals, but certainly the only one with cartoons.
Pneumatic Tube Trains and AVs to the Rescue? Smarter Planning for New Mobility
New mobility modes and services have tantalizing potential, but they can also impose significant costs and risks. We need objective and comprehensive analysis to determine how—and how not—to incorporate these new technologies.
Battle Over San Francisco's Pedestrianized 'Great Highway'
Although the project has been hugely successful with local residents, the mayor and some county supervisors wanted to revert the road to vehicle use.
'Grandfamily' Housing Fills a Need in the Housing Market
Grandfamily housing, as described by a recent article in The New York Times, is a kind of intergenerational housing model that caters to older Americans raising children.
Calculating Bus Stop Spacing for 43 U.S. Cities
New research documents the distance between bus stops in U.S. cities—a key question for service designers that determines a lot about the public transit user experience.
Statewide Zoning Reform Proposed in Minnesota
The proposed Comprehensive Housing Affordability Act would trade development fees for zoning relief.
When Infrastructure Investments Go Wrong
The United States has a near perfect track record of building the infrastructure it thinks it needs. But the country and its various state and local governments, don't always get the vision right.
Vote for 'America's Most Toxic Car Commercial'
From the same website that brought us the "Parking Crater Award" and the "Sorriest Bus Stops in America."
U.S. Supreme Court Tosses New York's Eviction Moratorium
On August 12, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an emergency order to block the state of New York's eviction moratorium.
What Makes Placemaking Work
New qualitative research into three example public spaces in the United States offers best practices and obstacles to avoid in the placemaking process.
A 'Tiny Home Village' Grows in Los Angeles
The complex can house over 200 people and will provide bathrooms and social services for people transitioning out of homelessness.
BLOG POST
5 Cities Leading the Way in COVID-19 Management Tech
Advanced new contact tracing measures, citizen outreach technology, and other innovations are helping these cities fight the spread of COVID-19.
How Data and Tech Can Support Transit Planning
Agencies can use data resources to improve their decision-making and provide more responsive service.
St. Paul Does Away With Minimum Parking Requirements
The city is one of the first in the nation to completely eliminate parking mandates citywide.
Environmental Assessment for Manhattan Congestion Pricing Scheduled Until December 2022
An idea approved in 2019 which spent the last two years stuck in Trump and Covid limbo, will only now begin a slow march toward final approval.
Judge Halts Controversial Alaska Drilling project
The 'Willow' project would pump 600 million gallons of oil and emit 500 metric tons of carbon dioxide in the next 30 years.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
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.
