With its progressive mayor and recent examples of exemplary architecture and urbanism, you'd think alternatives to sprawl would be an easy sell in Calgary. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong, says Christopher Hume.

A dramatic footbridge by Spanish architect/engineer Santiago Calatrava and a mixed-use neighborhood (Garrison Woods) built on a former military base in Calgary's east end, are among the small steps that demonstrate an alternative to the anonymous sprawl that occupies a reported 95 percent of the area's population growth. But achieving these successes wasn't easy, notes Hume.
"A proud City of Calgary featured Garrison Woods on the cover of a recent planning document. The irony, [mayor Naheed Nenshi] pointed out, is that the neighbourhood everyone loves broke 'every single rule' in the planning book. Getting it done took more than a decade as the city fought its own requirements every step of the way."
"At the same time, developers continue the discredited and ruinous 'multiplication by subdivision' approach that has turned the outer reaches of Calgary into endless tracts of cookie-cutter housing."
“Why do we persist in building stuff people don’t want and that doesn’t work?” Nenshi asked planners at a recent conference.
"It’s a good question;" says Hume, "one most Canadian cities, Toronto included, would be hard-pressed to answer. Everywhere one looks, planning rules are stuck back in the days of freeways and shopping centres."
FULL STORY: Like Toronto, City of Calgary struggles to become more urban: Hume

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.

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.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie