The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Overlapping highways

FEATURE

The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin

People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.

September 8 - Benjamin Schneider

A SpaceX sign in Brownsville, Texas.

Home values, property tax rises in Texas county after the arrival of SpaceX

The median property tax bill in Cameron County increased by more than 57% over six years.

September 7 - The Texas Tribune

The Eaton fire burns in Sierra Madre. A home can be seen through the flames.

Wildfires are coming for America’s suburbs

Buying land in between paved cities and forests has become increasingly popular, but those same areas are naturally fire prone.

September 7 - Grist

The Lake Shore Drive Bridge with a boat passing under it.

Extreme heat is paralyzing Chicago’s moveable bridges

If moveable bridges are raised during heatwaves, the metal can expand and jam the bridge's mechanisms, preventing it from lowering.

September 7 - Chicago Sun-Times

A dense neighborhood, with the long island expressway running through it.

Long Island public housing applicants face longest wait times in America

Applicants to large, medium and small housing authorities in Long Beach all face exceptionally long waiting periods.

September 6 - Newsday


A wheelchair ramp provides access to a building.

HUD sets new time limit on Fair Housing accessibility complaints

Previously, complaints could be filed as long as the violation remained.

September 6 - Smart Cities Dive

A worn down building, looked at through a crumbling brick wall with graffiti.

Cleveland is turning abandoned real estate into ‘housing innovation district,’ jobs

The city’s housing innovation district will bring pro-housing policies to disinvested neighborhoods.

September 6 - Yahoo News


An aerial view of Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve. Patches of residual snow and ice dot the tawny tundra wetlands stretching toward a frozen lake on the horizon.

Drilling, seismic surveys in Alaska would require no environmental review under new Trump proposal

Seismic surveys can scar tundra and disturb wildlife, including female polar bears, and drilling has been known to alter caribou behavior and Arctic migration patterns.

September 6 - High Country News

A road, lined with cars, leading to the United States Capital Building.

Surface transportation funding extended to mid-December

The temporary spending bill reduces public transit funding by 20% and passenger rail funding by 81%.

September 5 - Mass Transit

A pipeline runs parallel to the Dalton Highway, which is otherwise surrounded by untouched nature.

1.4 million acres of land in Alaska to lose federal protections

The Trump administration is transferring the land to the state, which will make it easier for Alaska to greenlight projects that may damage the environment.

September 4 - High Country News

Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during 'New York is not for sale' rally at Forest Hill Stadium in New York. A diverse crowd behind him holds his campaign signs.

NYC releases city’s first racial equity plan

The plan lists a wide range of goals, from improving pregnancy-related health outcomes for Black New Yorkers to building more affordable housing.

September 4 - Queens Chronicle

Signs in English and Spanish warn of sewage contamination on hiking trail and beach near Tijuana River.

San Diego County to build treatment plant for Tijuana River sewage pollution crisis

The river has carried millions of gallons of untreated sewage into San Diego’s South Bay region.

September 4 - NBC San Diego

Skyscrapers in Jersey City.

New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers

Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.

September 4 - The Cool Down

A crowded conference floor

FEATURE

The future of GIS, explored

The pros and cons of ArcGIS Urban, CityEngine, AI assistants and more notes from the 2026 Esri User Conference.

September 4 - Stephanie Specht

Two mountains with flat tops, resembling bear ears.

Patagonia, environmental groups revive old legal fights against new cuts to Utah monuments

White House says Trump ‘rightsized’ Bears Ears.

September 4 - Utah News Dispatch

Three offshore windmills off the coast of Rhode Island.

Through ‘questionable’ means,Trump is paying to make offshore wind power disappear

The East Coast is in need of renewable energy, but wind farm developers face permit revocations and stop-work orders from the Trump administration.

September 3 - Grist

A SEPTA Silverline IV train drives towards the camera.

SEPTA receives $13.3 million to replace fire-prone train cars

The transit agency said it could be seven years before the replacement train cars come to Philadelphia.

September 3 - Philadelphia Inquirer

A map of where Olympic Games will be held in LA County.

California will reserve 369 miles of roadway for Olympic athletes, coaches and officials

The permit-only roadway will connect the Olympic Village to companion sites around L.A. County, and includes major roads such as Sunset Boulevard.

September 3 - CBS

An Amtrak conductor walks parallel to an Amtrak train.

Amtrak announces new ‘System Expansion Committee’

The five initial members will oversee the expansion of rail service and the development of sustainable funding strategies.

September 3 - Mass Transit

The capitol building in Washington DC.

House’s stopgap bill would reduce passenger rail investment by 83%

The bill would also lessen surface level public transit investment by 20% and eliminate the advance appropriations provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

September 3 - Smart Cities Dive

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Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

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City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

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The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

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A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.

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.