The connection between land use and health comes clear in Portland, OR, where some of the poorest citizens face a four-hour round trip to the grocery store.
"When getting to market takes this much effort, epidemiologists consider it a threat to our collective health. Where we live determines where we buy food, which influences what we eat, factors into whether we're fat and can seal whether, someday, we get diabetes or have a heart attack.
Low-income and minority families, prone to obesity and dietary-related diseases, are also more likely to live in communities where nutritious food is hard to come by, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reports. These are otherwise known as "food deserts." Nationally, the typical low-income neighborhood has 30 percent fewer supermarkets than higher-income neighborhoods.
Parts of outer Northeast Portland popped out as having particularly poor access to food when the Coalition for a Livable Future analyzed grocery store locations using 2004 data.
'You have people literally living off of Plaid Pantries [a local convenience store],' says Brendan Finn, chief of staff to Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the Office of Sustainable Development."
Read the full story: Portland's low-income neighborhoods are city's 'food deserts'
Portland to transform vacant landfill into energy-generating sanctuary
The project will boast hundreds of solar panels, and create jobs in Portland’s renewable energy industry
Transit leaders progress high-speed rail from Portland to Vancouver, B.C.
Washington state officials may reveal feasible routes for the high-speed rail in late 2027.
In two U.S. cities, new technology is rewarding slower driving with a quicker commute
Albuquerque, New Mexico and Portland, Oregon have introduced traffic lights that are red by default, and turn green faster if drivers approach while going at or below the speed limit.
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.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
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
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority