One of the top political bloggers in Colorado expounds against the planning profession. He lays blame for most cities' ills at their feet.
"No profession has done more harm to the American city than urban planners."
"The zoning laws and conditional-use permits that prevent people from offering services to the homeless, the poor and the mentally ill, among others, are the invention of planners and are the stock in trade of the daily work of planners."
"This system has locked in mediocrity, suppressed innovation, and left economically needed but unpopular land uses, like low income housing, without a home."
"It is not coincidence that today's most vibrant cities are the ones established before planners secured a strangle hold on property development."
Read the full story: Against Planners
The Fall of Planning Expertise
With increasing skepticism and conflict towards planners and planning projects, we must ask ourselves: Is the power and politics now vested in "community participation" undermining the planning profession?
The new Texas law declawing NIMBYs
State lawmakers gutted an old Jim Crow-era state law that required a city council supermajority to approve a new housing development if neighbors petitioned the proposal.
Judge says Rhode Island town can't seize private lot to block affordable housing
The town of Johnston moved to seize a lot for municipal buildings after its owners submitted a plan for a 254-unit housing development.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Voters across the country reject data centers
Dozens of communities voted on measures to restrict the buildout of data centers.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority