At a time when motorists have a smorgasbord of distractions to contend with, select US streets take a taste of a Scandinavian recipe for street design, where pedestrians, cyclists, other motorists, and even trees are blended together intuitively.
"The new approach, called 'shared space,' is showing up in Seattle, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, Santa Monica, and other cities on the West Coast; in Cambridge, Massachusetts, New York City, and other places in the East; and in scattered places in between, such as New Town at St. Charles, Missouri, and the South Main development in Buena Vista, Colorado."
"Patrick Siegman of Nelson\Nygaard argues that in the US, mixing of pedestrians and vehicles is less novel than many take it to be. 'Most large parking lots - for example, those at shopping centers and grocery stores - effectively function in ways that are very similar to shared spaces on European shopping streets,' he observes. Siegman suggests that Americans have been operating in shared spaces - if drab ones - for decades, without being aware of it.
Perhaps, then, the shift to shared-space streets will be less of a shock than the skeptics think."
Read the full story: ‘Shared-space’ streets cross the Atlantic
Northwest Arkansas grapples with growth as it prepares to host New Urbanism gathering
A compelling story of a fast-growing, polycentric region grappling with identity and affordability, Susan Henderson reframes CNU 34 as a hands-on workshop, inviting planners to explore Northwest Arkansas as it decides what it will become.
Two Cheers For the Planners’ Pledge
A “Planners’ Pledge” created by some of the leading authorities on planning sets forth a bold urbanist agenda- even if not every idea in the pledge is equally useful in all cities.
A Better Understanding of Smart Growth Benefits
Smart Growth creates compact, multimodal communities where residents consume less land, drive less, and rely more on non-auto modes. Planners have important stories to tell about the benefits of Smart Growth.
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.
California city breaks ground on transit connector
The project includes three mobility hubs and a pedestrian bridge.
After public outcry, Massachusetts city releases housing development tracker
Cambridge’s tracker currently shows 250 housing projects in various stages of development.
40 years after approval, Chicago breaks ground on new park
The park honors Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the city’s first permanent non-native settler.
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