The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Birmingham, Alabama

Microtransit to Fill Transit System Gaps in Birmingham

With very little of its residential population or employment centers accessible by public transit, Birmingham is looking to microtransit to potentially reduce single-occupancy vehicles use in the city.

November 15 - Smart Cities Dive

Regional Transit

San Francisco Approved an Expanded Central SoMa Plan

The Central SoMa Plan, which sets development goals for a key swath of Downtown San Francisco, got bigger as it moved through a lengthy approval process.

November 15 - San Francisco Chronicle

Foothill Gold Line Light Rail Extension

Delays, Cost Overruns Shorten L.A. Metro's Gold Line Extension

The first light rail line to extend beyond Los Angeles County into the Inland Empire has had to rethink its construction schedule in response to skyrocketing costs.

November 15 - Daily Bulletin

Oil Pipeline

Federal Judge in Montana Halts Construction of Keystone XL Pipeline

The Trump administration's denial of climate change may serve a political purpose, but in the courtroom, it can prove a liability. A federal judge in Montana took into account the administration's "discarding" of climate science in its ruling.

November 15 - InsideClimate News

Crystal City

5 D.C.-Area Infrastructure Projects Jumpstarted by Amazon

Amazon's decision to locate half of its HQ2 location in Northern Virginia kicks the state into gear on transportation projects. More funding could potentially be on the way.

November 15 - Greater Greater Washington


Dilworth park

Details of Philadelphia's $181 Million, Voter Approved Bond

Voters approved a $181 million municipal bond to fund public works investments around the city.

November 15 - PlanPhilly

Duquesne Incline

Pittsburgh Then and Now

Take a tour of early 20th century Pittsburgh.

November 15 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Boston Ferry

Airbnb Suing Boston Over New Regulations

The front lines of the short-term rental wars shift to the city of Boston.

November 15 - The Boston Globe

Digital Billboard, Edmonton, Canada

Defining Qualities of Digitally Inclusive Cities

Brookings analyzes the characteristics of the local economy of eight American cities succeeding in bridging the digital divide.

November 15 - Brookings

Butte County, California

Planning for the Worst May Have Saved Thousands in the Camp Fire

The city of Paradise was prepared for the Camp Fire when it ripped through the town last week, and it still wasn't enough to save everyone.

November 14 - Los Angeles Times

Smart Cities World Congress Opens its Biggest Event

Organized by Fira de Barcelona at its Gran Via venue, the event is the largest to date, with over 840 exhibiting companies, 700 attending cities and a 31% increase regarding exhibition space, occupying two pavilions for the first time.

November 14 - Cities of the Future

Oil and Gas Extraction

Another State Rejects a 10-Cents per Gallon Gas Tax Hike

It was not your basic fuel tax hike. Utah voters were told that raising the tax would help education by redirecting revenue from the General Fund to schools that currently goes to transportation. Yet voters also passed decidedly liberal initiatives.

November 14 - Deseret News

Washington, D.C.

One Step Closer to Decriminalizing Fare Evasion in D.C.

The D.C. Council voted, 11-2, to decriminalize fare evasion on the D.C. Metro transit system. The council will have to vote one more time to confirm the new policy.

November 14 - The Washington Post

Arlington County, Virginia

New Virginia Tech 'Innovation Campus' Helped Woo Amazon to Arlington

According to an announcement by Virginia Tech yesterday, their plans to build a $1 billion innovation campus in nearby Alexandria helped win the HQ2 prize for Northern Virginia.

November 14 - WTOP

Portland Streetcar Bike

Advocacy Groups Have Their Say on Portland's Central City in Motion Plan

A downtown transportation plan designed to prioritize "transportation for everyone" will come before

November 14 - Bike Portland

Bus Stop and Bike Lane

Op-Ed: Change the Bike Planning Calculus to Include Women's Safety

The gender gap in walking and biking is deep and wide in Seattle. Here's a call to action.

November 14 - Crosscut

Chicago Riverwalk

Opinion: Environmentalism Is Good for Business

A thriving natural environment creates opportunity for private developers and local economies, an economist argues.

November 14 - New York Times

Shenzhen Crumbling Buildings

Speculation Leaves 50 Million Homes Empty in China

Experts say China has the highest vacancy rate on residential units of any country in the world. The roots of the problem lay in housing speculation, according to China's leaders.

November 14 - Bloomberg

King Street Streetcar

One Year Later: Transit Priorities Still Working on King Street in Toronto

By restricting car traffic and eliminating parking along a portion of King Street in Toronto, streetcar ridership and service performance have been greatly improved.

November 14 - The Star

Welcome Sign

Another Major Statewide Transportation Funding Loss on Election Day

Similar to Missouri voters, who rejected a 10-cents per gallon tax hike placed on the ballot by the state legislature, Colorado voters rejected two competing initiatives to finance transportation improvements placed on the ballot by citizen groups.

November 13 - Denver Business Journal

Post News

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

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The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

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

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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.