That's where authors Nathan Cherry and Kurt Nagle found their inspiration for their new book about urban form. Grid/Street/Place.
Frank Gruber compares the book to the Smart Growth Manual, which he also reviewed recently:
"G/S/P is also a kind of manual; author Cherry describes it as a "playbook" in his introduction. The instructions come largely in visual form: primarily by way of maps of places the authors consider worthy of study. The examples fall into five principal categories: Classic Districts (which give a historic perspective); Mixed Use Districts; Squares, Greens and Parks; Shopping Streets; and Places. The maps in any section are at the same scale, to facilitate comparisons."
Read the full story: Metropolitan Urbanism? A Review of Grid/Street/Place by Nathan Cherry (with Kurt Nagle)
In Defense of the Grid
Paul Knight delivers an impassioned defense of the gridded urban form against its many criticisms -- that its boring, its unnatural, its only use is to maximize profits for developers, etc.
How We Got Here
In "A History of Street Networks," Lawrence Aurbach discusses the intellectual movements driving the growth of suburban-style street design.
The Sweet Smell of Density? Subconscious Influences on Perceptions of Urban Form
Michael Hooper of Harvard University writes about a recent article in the Journal of Planning Education and Research
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.
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.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
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