Online shopping and gentrification is fueling a bona fide building boom of warehouse spaces in Chicago.

Ryan Ori reports: "In the shadows of the apartment, hotel and office towers rising in recent years, an often unnoticed form of real estate has begun taking off in Chicago: warehouses."
"Developers are on track to complete at least seven speculative warehouses—constructed without leases signed in advance—in Chicago between late 2015 and the end of 2017, adding up to more than 1 million square feet of space," adds Ori.
"That is more than double the amount of spec industrial space built in the city in the previous 14 years combined…"
The sudden spec industrial space developments are filling a need created by rapidly growing online shopping and e-commerce businesses. Among the companies driving the demand for warehouse space in Chicago, for instance is Amazon.
FULL STORY: Warehouses are sexy all of a sudden. Here's why.

Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.

Minneapolis Housing Plan a Success—Not for the Reason You Think
Housing advocates praise the city’s move to eliminate single-family zoning by legalizing triplexes on single-family lots, but that isn’t why housing construction is growing.

Car Noise Is Killing Us
It’s not just traffic collisions that kill—a new study from researcher at Rutgers finds that the loud noises emanating from cars has direct impact on heart health in Americans.

Affordable Housing Proposal Faces Backlash in Salt Lake City
A public hearing last week revealed widespread opposition to a plan to loosen density and height limits and reduce parking requirements to encourage more developers to build affordable housing.

Houston Bike Summit Makes In-Person Return
The event will focus on improving bike safety and continuing maintenance on the city's growing network of bike lanes and trails.

Austin’s Transit CEO Moving to D.C.
After overseeing a major system redesign and plans for its largest-ever expansion, the head of Capital Metro will take over Washington, D.C.’s transit agency.
City of Malibu
EMC Planning Group Inc.
Jefferson Parish
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard GSD Executive Education
City of Rohnert Park
City of Hot Springs
City of Lakeway, Texas
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.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.