Municipalities are hiring architects to ensure that new development is architecturally interesting and does not look resemble sprawling cookie-cutter subdivisions
"...cookie-cutter bungalows lined up in a row in sprawling subdivisions with no architectural interest whatsoever. That is just the kind of community most municipalities hope to avoid -- hence the practice of hiring an outside architect to oversee new housing developments...They want the community to fit in with its surroundings, so if it is an infill the style must be consistent with the other houses in the vicinity. For greenfields locations, architects generally aim to ensure the community ends up with a distinct 'personality.'"
Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan
FULL STORY: Managing the 'cookie cutters'

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?
Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

Platform Pilsner: Vancouver Transit Agency Releases... a Beer?
TransLink will receive a portion of every sale of the four-pack.

Toronto Weighs Cheaper Transit, Parking Hikes for Major Events
Special event rates would take effect during large festivals, sports games and concerts to ‘discourage driving, manage congestion and free up space for transit.”

Berlin to Consider Car-Free Zone Larger Than Manhattan
The area bound by the 22-mile Ringbahn would still allow 12 uses of a private automobile per year per person, and several other exemptions.
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