The suburbs are not conducive to the aging baby boomers that populate them. How do we prepare?
Lloyd Alter predicts a coming calamity in the suburbs, as aging boomers become less mobile in an unaccommodating environment. "The fact is, there is a major urban planning disaster staring us all in the face, which is going to seriously hit everyone young and old in about 10 years when the oldest boomers are 78."
There are currently an estimated 76 million people born 1946-1964 in the United States. Persons 68 and over own more than half of the owner-occupied homes, and "an estimated 70 percent of Baby Boomers live in areas served by limited or no public transit," writes Jane Gould in her book, Aging in Suburbia: The Must-Have Conversation About Homes and Driving.
Alter suggests the need for New Urbanist developments that provide Main Street-style convenience to retail, recreation and health amenities. He also suggests that technology can play a role: self-driving cars can run errands and the Internet-enabled sharing economy can accommodate resource pooling.
"The share economy is likely to reinvent personal transportation and make it more feasible for Boomers to age in place, if that is their true wish," Gould writes.
Read the full story: It won't be pretty when boomers lose their cars
An Urban, Technologically Enabled Era of Retirement
A feature article in Marketwatch describes a future for retirement communities that look more like WeWork than the golf course-adjacent exurban communities of the 20th century.
How Driverless Cars Could Affect Suburban Land Use
Successful driverless cars might lead to "mini mass transit," a distinct mode from public transit and the private automobile. The consequences for land use could reshape suburbia.
Home Prices are Stabilizing. Will it Last?
Housing costs are growing at a slower rate than in recent years, but experts say significant home price reductions won’t happen in the short term.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
Brightline Florida files for bankruptcy
The transit company is over $5 billion in debt.
St. Louis Metro to test if single-car trains can reduce operating costs, maintain rider satisfaction
The pilot program will run from October to spring 2027, and begin with one single-car train operating on Metrolink’s Red and Blue lines.
Pennsylvania is building data centers in abandoned mines
Housing data centers in mines provides an alternative to destroying local forests and may spare residents from data centers’ noise and air pollution.
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 Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello