The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Philadelphia Rowhouses

Philadelphia Unlikely to Follow Minneapolis' Lead in Zoning Reform

Minneapolis is setting a bold example by ending single-family zoning, but chances are a similar change won’t be coming to Philadelphia.

January 9 - PlanPhilly

San Francisco Tunnel Boring Machine

What to Expect From Transit Construction in 2019

Mixed results and high costs are to be expected among the 89 public transit construction projects underway in 2019.

January 9 - the transport politic

Self-Driving Car

Autonomous Driving Technology Might Have Saved Lives

It could have been a multiple-vehicle fatal car crash—a driver fell asleep at the wheel driving 70 mph—but the outcome was two DUI charges.

January 9 - SFBay

Delayed Opening for TEXRail Blamed on Federal Shutdown

Trinity Metro ended up delaying the opening of the new TexRail line for five days—from Saturday, January 5, until Thursday, January 10.

January 9 - Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Housing Construction

Denver Condo Project Aims for 'Permanent Affordability'

More often the province of rental housing, affordability policies are limited in the for-sale market. A partnership in Denver aims to change that with a mixed-use project including at least 86 condos destined to be "permanently affordable."

January 9 - Next City


Pike & Rose Bethesda Maryland

Experiences Designed Into Suburban Developments

Live music, skating rinks, and artificial beaches are now part of developments that want to go beyond just simple shopping and dining.

January 9 - The Washington Post

Car Graveyard

More 'Car-Rich' Households Mean More Car Ownership

More people are buying cars, even while more people are choosing to go without cars.

January 9 - CityLab


Atlanta

Tax Deal Paves Way for Atlanta's Gulch Mega-Project

The city of Atlanta approved its largest development project since the 1960s back in November, but still needed the school district to sign off on a funding plan to help for the $1.9 billion in public subsidies that will support the project.

January 9 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Campaign Rally

Sources: Trump Administration Considering an Attack on Disparate Impact

The Supreme Court upheld the disparate impact doctrine at the heart of fair housing rules, along with many other anti-discrimination policies, in 2015. Still, the Trump administration is looking for ways to undermine disparate impact.

January 9 - The Washington Post

Boston, Massachusetts

Massachusetts Tops California in Emission Reductions

California and Massachusetts use the same name for climate change legislation, Global Warming Solutions Act, and set the same target date for reductions, 2020. Both achieved their targets 2016, but the Bay State had a tougher goal to meet.

January 8 - WBUR

Trash Can

Nudging People to Keep Cities Clean

Philadelphia looked at how interventions can change recycling and littering behavior.

January 8 - Apolitical

Carpool Lane Sticker

New Year's Law: Over 200,000 EV Drivers Lost Access to California Carpool Lanes

As many as 215,000 owners of mostly electric vehicles purchased before 2017 lost their privilege to access carpool lanes on New Year's Day. The main purpose of HOV lanes is to reduce congestion.

January 8 - Capital Public Radio

San Francisco Construction

San Francisco Home Construction Expected to Slump This Year

Due to various market and industry factors, developers are not planning to start many new construction projects in 2019.

January 8 - San Francisco Chronicle

empty parking lot of Eastvale, California's best buy and kohl's, mountains in background

A New Day for the California Environmental Quality Act

The California Natural Resources Agency posted the final version of amendments to the California Environmental Quality Act, enabled by 2013's SB 743, at the end of 2018.

January 8 - Streetsblog California

Bus

BLOG POST

Yes, There Are Still Carless Poor

Despite the decline in gas prices, cars are still a luxury for many low-income Americans, and low-income zip codes still tend to have low car ownership rates.

January 8 - Michael Lewyn

Los Angeles Chinatown

Report Tracks Transport Emissions Trends and Raises Transport Policy Ambition

The Sustainable Low Carbon Transportation ( SLoCaT) Partnership recently released the "Transport and Climate Change Global Status Report," a resource to help raise ambition on climate sustainable transportation policy actions.

January 8 - Transport and Climate Change Global Status Report

U.S. Route 40 Alternate and U.S. Route 219

Opinion: Maryland Governor's 'Road Warrior' Status Doesn't Excuse This Boondoggle

A Baltimore Sun columnist writes a scathing critique of Maryland's highway building program.

January 8 - The Baltimore Sun

Texas Wind Power

Texas Ideal for Solar and Wind Energy

If coal use phases out in Texas, renewable energy could very likely pick up the slack.

January 8 - Houston Chronicle

U.S. Census Bureau

Census Bureau Finally Has a New Director

The U.S. Census Bureau had been without an approved director since May 2017. The Senate unanimously approved Steven Dillingham to the position with about a year to spare before the 2020 Census begins.

January 8 - NPR

National Parks

Opinion: Close National Parks During the Shutdown

The consequences of allowing the public free access to national parks without any supervision or maintenance operations are to great a risk, according to a former director of the National Park Service.

January 7 - The Guardian

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.