The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Metro Buses

Another Year of Falling Ridership for L.A.'s Metro System

Even as extensions to the Gold Line and Measure S seem to paint a brighter future for public transit in Los Angeles, commuters continue to use less public transit, especially buses.

February 23 - Los Angeles Times

Chicago Housing Authority

Large Mixed-Use Development the Latest Step in Cabrini-Green's Complete Redevelopment

The process of redeveloping the site of one of the country's most infamous public housing complexes, Cabrini-Green in Chicago, will soon take another substantial step into the future.

February 23 - Chicago Tribune

Both Ways

Transit-Walkability Collaborative Established

The new Transit-Walkability Collaborative works to create safe, healthy, equitable, and sustainable communities by harnessing the synergy between walkability and quality public transit service.

February 23 - Transit-Walkability Collaborative

Spring Lake, New Jersey

FEATURE

Doubling Down on Infrastructure

The challenge facing the nation's infrastructure is massive in scale, requiring ambition lacking since the New Deal and Eisenhower eras. Building on those historic models, the following op-ed suggests a "WPA 2.0" approach to infrastructure.

February 22 - Armando Carbonell and Susannah Drake

New York City

Are Driverless Cars Good for Cities?

With experts predicting widespread autonomous vehicle (AV) adoption in the not-too-distant-future, many policymakers, designers, and ordinary citizens are left scratching their heads, uncertain of what to expect and how to prepare.

February 22 - Doggerel


MTA Bus

In New York: No Bus Ridership Without Congestion Relief

Bus ridership has dropped for many years in New York City, but much of the bleeding is concentrated in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Could the congestion problems of the central city be the reason for the declining use of bus transit?

February 22 - StreetsBlog NYC

High Line

Debating the Legacy of the High Line

A new debate has emerged, starting from a source very close to the project, about the effects of the High Line in New York City.

February 22 - CityLab


Traffic

2016 Sets New U.S. Driving Record as Gas Prices Remain Low

So much for the 2015 record of 3.148 trillion miles. Last year saw a cumulative travel increase of 2.8 percent to 3.218 trillion miles, setting a new record as cheap gas contributed to increased driving.

February 22 - E&E News

Oregon State Capitol Building

Cap-and-Trade Back on the Table in Oregon

A new report and hearings by the state's House and Senate environment committees has put a cap-and-trade policy to curb carbon emissions back in play in Salem.

February 22 - Statesman Journal

San Francisco

A Modest Proposal: Stop Subsidizing Driving

Joe Cortright argues for a new approach to the discussion about the country's dependence on automobiles: talk about responsibility, not morals.

February 22 - City Observatory

Texas State Capitol building

Fair Housing Advocates Sue Texas Governor Over Housing Voucher Law

A Dallas non-profit has sued Texas Governor Greg Abbott over what it calls a blatantly racist law that allows landlords to refuse payment in federal housing vouchers.

February 22 - The Dallas Morning News

Benicia Bridge

Mapping the Country's Bridge Maintenance Crisis

A new, interactive feature by The Washington Post endeavors to bring the point about the nation's crumbling infrastructure closer to home.

February 22 - The Washington Post

Louisiana

Shreveport Debates a Highway Proposal

Strong Towns is rolling out an in-depth analysis of a controversial proposal in Shreveport, Louisiana to build a new connector for Interstate 49 North in the heart of the city.

February 22 - Strong Towns

Parking

Google Can Now Predict Parking Difficulty

The way Google predicts parking difficulty could make it easier to develop "smart city" applications in the future.

February 21 - IoT for All

School Site

8,000 U.S. Public Schools Located Near Sources of Pollution

Schools tend to get built on cheap land. Cheap land is often found near busy roadways—sources of pollutants that are harmful to the health of children.

February 21 - The Center for Public Integrity

Sydney, Austrlia, Sirius Building

Sydney's Public Housing Gives Way as Land Prices Rise

Rising land values has made some of the land Sydney, Australia's affordable housing sits on prime targets for redevelopment and gentrification.

February 21 - South China Morning Post

Wilshire Grand

BLOG POST

Measure S Is Just Bad Policy

Measure S gives city leaders a moderately satisfying smack across the face. As satisfying as that may be, Measure S is remarkably bad planning and development policy at the expense of the vast majority of Angelinos.

February 21 - Reuben Duarte

Designers Propose New Development Model for NYC's Gentrifying Industrial Districts

From warehouse to art studio to luxury loft: the SoHo model of industrial-zone gentrification has become familiar around the world. A team of New York-based designers developed a proposal for spreading the benefits of economic growth in these areas.

February 21 - Soft City

A Legislative Challenge to Ballot-Box Planning in California

On March 7, Angelenos will vote on Measure S, which would enact a two-year moratorium on denser development. State legislation introduced on Feb. 16 would require a two-thirds vote for these types of slow growth ballot measures.

February 21 - Los Angeles Times

Seattle Train

Buzzing Job Market Means More Transit Riders in Seattle

Solo drivers are down and transit commuters are up in Seattle.

February 21 - The Seattle Times

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.