The Most Popular Planetizen Posts of 2014

We've been collecting data on the posts you made the most popular for the year 2014.

2 minute read

December 18, 2014, 5:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell

It's A Wonderful Life

Insomnia Cured Here / Flickr

With so many cities, towns, and places demanding our respect and careful study, it can be a whirlwind to locate and parse the most valuable possible information to share with the Planetizen audience.

The end of 2014, however, provides an opportunity to look back and take stock of what we've seen over the course of the year. As Planetizen readers, your interests enable a great, ongoing crowdsourcing experiment in planning and urbanism media. Every day, year after year, your clicks have voted for (or against) the most compelling news and ideas in the many related fields of planning, urbanism, mobility, and community.

So thank you for your thoughtful participation and engagement in the ongoing conversation. We like forward to more of the same, and even better, in 2015.

An analysis of the top trends and events of the year will follow in a separate post, but, for now, please consider the following list of the most popular posts of the year. We used Google Analytics data for pageviews from January 1, 2014 through December 15, 2014. The list includes a few posts from December 2013 that attracted attention throughout 2014.

Without further ado, the most popular Planetizen posts of 2014:

Most Popular News Posts

1) The Most Dangerous Small Towns in America
2) The Underlying Patterns of Urban Street Design
3) Gentrification and Displacement: Not the Relationship You Might Have Thought
4) Ranking the Top Movies About Urbanism
5) Innovation Districts: The Next Big Urban Idea
6) Planners, Architects Launch 'Cards Against Urbanity'
7) 10 Unexpected Cities to Love
8) Is This the Most Useless Crosswalk Ever?
9) Kotkin on Cities: What the Hipsters Want is Not What the People Want
10) Boston's 'Adult Playground': Created without Traditional Planning

Most Popular Blog Posts

1) The Best Planning Apps for 2014
2) Mobility in Cities is About Space - Proven Powerfully in Pictures!
3) Open Letter to a Car-Addicted City
4) The Fall of Planning Expertise
5) Scientific Proof That Cars and Cities Just Don't Mix  
6) Let's Make Sticky Streets for People!
7) Tall Tower Debates Could Use Less Dogma, Better Design
8) Economically Successful Cities Favor Space-Efficient Modes
9) 3 Reasons We Should Pay Attention to Medellín
10) Urban Road-Building Linked to Poor Statewide Economic Performance

Most Popular Exclusive Posts

1) The Top Schools For Urban Planners
2) Top 10 Books - 2014
3) The 100 "Best" Books on City-Making Ever Written?
4) Top 10 Websites - 2014
5) Mid-Rise: Density at a Human Scale 
6) 10 Lessons in More Engaging Citizen Engagement
7) Two-Way Streets Can Fix Declining Downtown Neighborhoods
8) Lessons from Don Draper (for Planners)
9) The Power of Public-Private Partnerships: Mobile Phone Apps and Municipalities
10) What Can a 'Science of Cities' Offer Planners?

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 9, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Map of Haussmann's redesign of Paris in the 1850s through 1870s under Napoleon III.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking

Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

June 30, 2025 - Tom Sanchez

Red and white "Wildfire Evacuation Route" sign on signpost.

Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions

An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.

7 hours ago - The Markup

Protester at Echo Park Lake, Los Angeles holding sign that says "Housing is a human right"

What Happens if Trump Kills Section 8?

The Trump admin aims to slash federal rental aid by nearly half and shift distribution to states. Experts warn this could spike homelessness and destabilize communities nationwide.

July 10 - Shelterforce Magazine

Aerial of rainbow painted crosswalks at large intersection in Castro District, Sna Francisco, California.

Sean Duffy Targets Rainbow Crosswalks in Road Safety Efforts

Despite evidence that colorful crosswalks actually improve intersection safety — and the lack of almost any crosswalks at all on the nation’s most dangerous arterial roads — U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy is calling on states to remove them.

July 10 - Streetsblog USA

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.

Home and Land Services Coordinator

Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners

Associate/Senior Planner

Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development

Senior Planner

Heyer Gruel & Associates PA

Write for Planetizen