Most North American urbanists turn to Europe for inspiration and direction. Some of that brilliance, Ben Brown reminds us, is due to time and distance.
"The places you’re visiting were working their way through human settlement and mobility successes and flops for a thousand or more years before automobiles entered the conversation. Amsterdam was already a mature, globally important city when America’s colonies of immigrants were struggling towards organizing themselves into an independent republic. Even the oldest American cities have spent at least a quarter of their histories planning for the care and feeding of cars."
“'Don’t you think,' she asked, 'it will take a few generations to reverse that?'”
"So time is a component we impatient Americans often fail to factor into our change equations. Here’s another one: Distance."
"The hassle-free hop from Amsterdam to Berlin reminded me how geographically compacted are Europe’s countries. Consider: There are fewer miles separating Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Zurich, Brussels or Luxembourg in Europe than New York City and Atlanta in our country. Yet until recently, the Europeans’ proximity didn’t prevent thousands of years of violent conflicts. And even now, the transition into a true European Union is an uneasy one."
FULL STORY: Euro-Envy Reconsidered: Talkin’ time, distance and change
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I Love the Nightlife: Reopening Entertainment Scenes
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Lessons from the Pandemic: Housing, Retail, Broadband
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Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
Fair Housing Cannot Take a Back Seat to ‘Build, Baby, Build’
If we overlook fair housing principles in the plan to build US housing back better, we risk ending up right back where we started.
LA Metro Board Approves New 710 Freeway Plan
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Austin’s Proposed EV Charging Rules Regulate Station Locations, Size
City planners say the new rules would ensure an efficient distribution of charging infrastructure across the city and prevent an overconcentration in residential areas.
Making California State Parks More Climate-Resilient
A recently released report offers recommendations for keeping state parks healthy and robust, including acquiring additional land for conservation and recreation.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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.
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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
