You know them when you see them—they're the ones ready to suck the winds out of your sails and set you back at least a month, but probably more, of good work and high morale.

1) Kneejerk Civic Booster – This hometown hero knows all the relevant hashtags, all the seasonally-optimized vantage points for sunset photos, and the Latin names of all the native floral and fauna. In this self-proclaimed thought leader's world, politicians, NIMBYs, and developers always consider the public interest, outcomes are always "best possible," and perfect is never the enemy of the good. On the bright side, at least there's always someone at the ready to defend your community from the criticisms of out-of-town journalists.

2) Pedantic Bicycle Advocate – Accident or crash. Protected bike lane or cycletrack. You bet your bicycle seat words matter. For this variety of crusader, sympathy is a one-way street with contra-flow lanes and bike-friendly signal times.

3) Speeding SUV Driver – It's time we stopped referring to people that drive 45 miles per hour through residential neighborhood "commuters" or "soccer moms" and call them what they really are: rampaging sociopaths.

4) Agenda 21 Crusader – There are lots of good reasons for developments to fail and plenty of reasons for citizens to be skeptical of planners and planning processes. A vast international conspiracy organized by the United Nations to threaten the sovereignty of the United States is not one of them.

5) Curbed Comment Troll – Proving Godwin's Law, 365 days a year.

6) Bored Beat Reporter – Who needs facts when you've been on the beat for 30 years and you're equal parts cynical and lazy? This character would literally mail it in—if the news room hadn't sold out and gone digital back in '02.

7) The Mansplaining Manspreader – Patriarchy in the public realm is this dude's bread and butter. No topic of public interest is outside his area of expertise, and no boundaries come included with his concept of personal space.
FULL STORY: 7 Least Popular Urbanists

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.

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

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?

Portland Raises Parking Fees to Pay for Street Maintenance
The city is struggling to bridge a massive budget gap at the Bureau of Transportation, which largely depleted its reserves during the Civd-19 pandemic.

Spokane Mayor Introduces Housing Reforms Package
Mayor Lisa Brown’s proposals include deferring or waiving some development fees to encourage more affordable housing development.

Houston Mayor Kills Another Bike Lane
The mayor rejected a proposed bike lane in the Montrose district in keeping with his pledge to maintain car lanes.
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.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont