The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Florida Preempts Local Zoning Laws That Prohibit Gardens
Many gardeners in Florida celebrated this week, as Senate Bill 82 went into effect, by planting fruits and vegetables in their yards, legally, whether their city liked it or not.

McDonald's: Where the Nation Feels Welcome
McDonald's takes a lot of heat for the quality of the food, but most Americans still associate the fast food giant's restaurants, and others like it, with family, community, and good times.

Scarce National Park Fee Money Will Fund Today's 'Salute to America'
The Trump administration's lack of concern for the National Park Service's growing maintenance backlog will be on display today, along with everything else.

Where, and Why, Allergies Are Worst
Your senses (or lack thereof) aren't deceiving you. Some cities really are worse for seasonal allergies than others, and some of the reasons are entirely preventable.

Curb Data Platform Expanding Reach, With Plans for More
More cities are leveraging technology to better manage one of the most confusing and congested spaces in the public realm: the curb.

Air Quality Slips After Decades of Progress
Southern California has long been leader in air quality management, but lately the news has not been good.

Op-Ed Supports Congestion Pricing for San Francisco
An opinion piece by Josh Wilson makes a case for a congestion pricing plan tailored specifically for the realities of living and working in San Francisco.
Rural Nursing Homes Closing at Rapid Rates
Nursing homes are closing in large numbers in rural communities as a result of a confluence of market pressures.

The Problem With All Those 'Livability' Rankings
Why is it that smallish cities in western Europe always score so well? Perhaps the underlying assumptions behind ostensibly data-driven "livability" rankings cater to a certain audience and leave most of us out.

Bay Area Planners Acknowledge the Need for Regional Housing Solutions
While most Bay Area communities are pursuing housing solutions "individually," local planners acknowledge the need for strategies that address the regional as a unified whole.

Consensus on Changes to Property Tax Abatement Too Challenging for Philadelphia
Despite over a year of proposals, counter proposals, and heated debate, the city of Philadelphia has yet to broker a breakthrough on proposed reforms to the city's ten-year property tax abatement program.

Updated: Census Citizenship Question Officially Cancelled
The U.S. Department of Commerce was not successful in achieving a highly consequential change to the 2020 Census form, after the Supreme Court ruled it needed a better reason to make the change.

All the Places Mentioned in Last Week's Democratic Debates
Candidates drop names for a reason.

Design Review: Boston's Posh New High Rise
One Dalton Street, the third tallest building in Boston, is almost complete.

The Search for Natural Silence
With more cars on roads and planes in the sky than ever before, finding truly noise-free places with pure natural sounds has become ever more challenging.

Climate Crisis, Housing Crisis on a Collision Course
Sprawl might relieve the housing crisis, but it would also exacerbate the climate crisis. Tough choices will be necessary in regions like San Diego, where the question of where to accommodate growth is very much in question.

20 Years of Dam Removal Projects
Dam removal has its benefits, according to the example set by a particularly historic dam removal in the United States, which took place on July 1, 1999.

A New—and Hopefully Better—Way to Deal with the Homeless Crisis on the N.Y.C. Subway
More homeless people are using the subway as temporary housing, and the delays and disruptions have increased as well. A new city program will replace fines with outreach to provide better access to social services.

What Went Wrong With Oregon's Climate Bill?
The Oregon Climate Action Program, which would have priced carbon emissions by establishing a cap-and-trade program similar to the one in California, was defeated on Saturday, the penultimate day of the 2019 legislative session.

Seattle Sets a New Standard for Residential Zoning
Seattle is the latest in a series of cities, states, and counties to alter the landscape of land use regulation by approving what the Sightline Institute describes as the "most progressive" ADU policy in the United States.
Pagination
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
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.