The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Urban Agriculture

Crisis Could Result in a More Sustainable Food System

The food system, from supply to distribution and consumption, is undergoing a rapid transformation. Community supported agriculture could potentially benefit.

May 12 - NPR

New York East River Esplanade

Court Decision Clears the Way for East River Greenway Bike Bridge

A community group had sued to prevent the construction of a bridge in Clara Coffey Park in New York City. The court ruled in the favor of the city's plans.

May 12 - StreetsBlog NYC

Joe Louis Memorial

Editorial: Save the City by Investing in Equity

A New York Times editorial presents a resoundingly pro-urban call to action regarding the future of planning and investment.

May 12 - The New York Times

Street Traffic in Manhattan

Urban Planning in a Post-Pandemic World

The coronavirus crisis is highlighting the contributions of cities as well as their vulnerabilities and the planning issues that need to be priorities in the future.

May 11 - The City Fix

Welcome to North Dakota

An Unlikely State Emerges as Nation's Premier Contact Tracer

The Peace Garden State is one of a handful of rural states never to have issued a stay-at-home order, yet it is number three in coronavirus testing per capita and number one in contact tracing, two of the four tools needed to contain COVID-19.

May 11 - The Bismarck Tribune


San Diego metropolitan Transit System

Unreliable Data, Contract Issues Slow San Diego's Smart Streetlights Program

A public-private partnership between the city of San Diego and GE Current to develop a smart streetlights program started in 2017 has not lived up to expectations three years and $300 million dollars later.

May 11 - Voice of San Diego

Cupertino, California

YIMBYs Prevail on Big Bay Area Mixed-Use Development Proposal

A court ruling in Santa Clara County cleared the way for a large mixed-use development proposal to be built at the location of the Vallco Shopping Mall in Cupertino.

May 11 - The Mercury News


Delaware

Property Tax System in Delaware Ruled Unconstitutional

A property tax shake up is coming to the state of Delaware. Some will pay more, and some will pay less as the ruling forces assessments to come in line with reality.

May 11 - Delaware News Journal

Observatory Elevator

BLOG POST

Elevators Are Not the Villain

Even some defenders of urbanism fear buildings that are tall enough for elevators. This fear does not seem to be supported by New York infection data.

May 11 - Michael Lewyn

Coronavirus and Lime

Can the Scooter Business Outlast the Coronavirus?

It's the end of the scooter as we know it.

May 11 - Smart Cities Dive

Center For Brain Health, Las Vegas, NV, by Frank Gehry

Recommended Architecture Podcasts

Looking for intellectual reinforcements as the country enters the third month of social distancing and stay-at-home-orders? Listen up.

May 11 - The Architect's Newspaper

pedestrians in a Time of Coronavirus

Vehicles Restrictions for COVID-19 Made Permanent for Seattle Streets

The temporary measures of the coronavirus pandemic are being made permanent fixtures on 20 miles of streets in Seattle.

May 10 - The Seattle Times

Stay-at-Home Orders

After the Plague: Go Big or Go Backwards?

Among unwelcome lessons of COVID-19 is growing evidence of what was already broken in politics and business. Ben Brown looks at making bold changes in order to improve the lives of the left out and left behind.

May 10 - PlaceShakers

Washington D.C. - The White House

White House Shelves Reopening Guidelines Prepared by CDC

President Trump wants states to reopen businesses quickly but doesn't want to have the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide directions to business owners and transit agencies on how to open without spreading the coronavirus.

May 10 - Associated Press

Coronavirus Social Distancing

Reopening Main Street

A Long Beach-based urban design firm shares design tips for reopening main streets while balancing public health and economic concerns—making space for parklets, pedestrians, and al fresco dining.

May 10 - studioneleven

King County Metro Transit

Transit Service Restored in Seattle Area, With New Social Distancing Practices in Place

Seatback signage and reduced capacity will allow King County Metro to begin resuming bus service. In the wake of staff illness and depleted funding, the road to Metro's recovery could be quite long.

May 8 - The Urbanist

Central Park from Rockefeller Center Historic Photo

Design in the Time of Cholera: How Pandemics Reshaped the Built Environment

Some of the most beloved public parks and essential advances in public sanitation can be traced back to their roots in the Cholera outbreaks in the 1800s.

May 8 - History

Illinois

Another City Opens Street Space for Restaurants—This Time in Suburban Chicago

Tampa, Brookhaven, Vilnius, Hinsdale. These cities will be the answer to a COVID-themed trivia night some time soon.

May 8 - Chicago Tribune

Adaptive Reuse

Task Force Would Ensure Social Justice in COVID-19 Response in Pittsburgh

If approved by the Pittsbugh City Council, the proposed Greater Pittsburgh Covid-19 Racial Equity Task Force would work toward more equitable distribution of economic and public health resources, during the coronavirus pandemic and after.

May 8 - Trib Live

Street Vendor

Street Vendors Rally for Rent Cancelation in Los Angeles

Street vendors gathered in front of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works in a May Day action to their make demands heard.

May 7 - Streetsblog Los Angeles

Post News

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

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

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.