Dan Rodricks has been reading a lot of "good news" about new residential building permits being taken out around Baltimore, and questions whether new development is always a good sign.
Rodricks questions the traditional measure of growth in the economy: "Foreclosures continue, and many of the people who for a time owned a home have returned, perhaps permanently, to the ranks of renters. But we still look to new housing for evidence of recovery."
"The fact that homebuilders are getting busy again - and that we still use housing starts as a measure of progress - means we're not quite ready for the concepts of sustainability necessary to meet the realities of the 21st Century."
Read the full story: Is 'growth' always good?
A Historic Texas Beach Town Faces Existential Growth Questions
Galveston, Texas is growing — and so are questions about its land use strategy.
TxDOT Makes ‘Stunning Acknowledgement:’ Texas Needs More Transit
The agency issued a Statewide Multimodal Transit Plan that calls for more public transit options within and between major cities and in rural areas.
Pro-Housing Candidates Sweep Puget Sound Region
Growth advocates won multiple local seats around the Seattle area.
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