As the downtown master plan of Baton Rouge turns ten years old, planners are looking at the next stages of development. They say eight factors play into making this and other downtowns successful.
"Plan Baton Rouge, the downtown master plan led by renowned New Urbanist Andres Duany, turns 10 years old this year. Most of the projects suggested by that plan have come to fruition, including Main Street Market and the Shaw Center for the Arts. Our downtown is far more vibrant than it was in 1998, but it still lacks the buzz found in cities like Portland, Ore., Dallas, Colorado Springs, Colo., or Boise, Idaho."
"Alex Krieger of Chan Krieger Sieniewicz in Cambridge, Mass., will lead the second phase of Plan Baton Rouge, assuming the contract is signed. Krieger, the former chairman of the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, believes there are about eight common values all successful downtowns embrace."
FULL STORY: Eight is enough

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

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

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing
The city altered its zoning code to allow multi-family housing and eliminated parking mandates citywide.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

LA Denies Basic Services to Unhoused Residents
The city has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for trash pickup at encampment sites, and eliminated a program that provided mobile showers and toilets.
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.
planning NEXT
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie