The ReCode initiative promotes more diverse housing types and reduces parking requirements, among other changes.
Portland, Maine will make the first major update to its zoning and building codes in half a century with the ReCode initiative.
According to an article by Sean Murphy for Spectrum Local News, officials say the code is “bloated, needlessly complicated, and not in line with the city’s 21st-century development plans.”
The revised code will allow new housing types, including multifamily housing, promote multimodal transportation, and reduce parking requirements. “In a nutshell, the changes allow different types of housing, including multifamily housing, to be built in areas where it wasn’t allowed before. That includes neighborhoods where the only thing developers could build before was single-family homes.”
FULL STORY: Portland City Council approves ReCode initiative, first major building code changes in decades
Will New York ‘City of Yes’ Proposal Make an Impact?
Some housing experts say the rezoning plan is not nearly ambitious enough to make a dent in the city’s housing crisis.
Nashville Allows More Detached ADUs, Courtyard Apartments
The city has been considering a series of zoning reform bills designed to diversify housing options.
‘Montana Miracle:’ The State Actually Succeeding at Housing Reform
A series of ambitious zoning reforms is having a significant impact on the state’s housing supply.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Mamdani overhauls NYC's Vision Zero plan with 100 new policy goals
The overhaul aims to reduce traffic deaths and make streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers through lower speed limits, new safety infrastructure and more.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association