While planners strive to enhance the transportation-land use configuration to minimize travel and transportation infrastructure, the seemingly unrelenting movement toward larger-scale businesses and services may be counteracting these initiatives.
In this week's PLANetizen Op-Ed, Steven Polzin, Ph.D., describes the tension between transportation-land use decisions, and the economic efficiency objectives of large-scale businesses. "The competitive business environment that governs the economically-viable size of a given facility for many land uses has changed over time. It is not clear that the body of research on transportation and land use fully appreciates the economics of many land use decisions as they relate to the scale of the facility. While Wal-Mart Supercenter controversies have brought attention to this issue, it is not clear that the transportation implications of activity scale are fully understood in terms of the tradeoffs between business operating efficiency and travel demand."
Thanks to Erin Clark
FULL STORY: Transportation, Land Use and Economies of Scale
Seattle Legalizes Co-Living
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Central Florida’s SunRail Plans Major Expansion
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Santa Monica Lowers Speed Limits
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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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Caltrans
Los Alamos County
American Planning Association, Sustainable Communities Division
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Cambridge, Maryland
Newport County Development Council: Connect Greater Newport
Rockdale County Board of Commissioners