Comprehensive plans can be big and unwieldy. Luckily for Washington, D.C., there are two maps that unlock of the plan's meaning.

David Whitehead sifts through the 600 pages of the D.C. Comprehensive Plan and identifies the two maps that provide access to the plan's core ideas.
"DC has a giant planning document called the Comprehensive Plan. Most of it is super dense and complicated, but its goal is to lay the foundation for many city-wide decisions, in particular decisions on land use," explains Whitehead. "Partially because of its size and obscurity, many people just focus on two maps that exist as part of the Comp Plan: the Future Land Use Map (FLUM), and the Generalized Policy Map."
Whitehead then digs into both of the two maps, illuminating the key ideas that will help guide an understanding of these already most accessible parts of the D.C. Comprehensive Plan.
But then, there's a caveat. According to Whitehead, "[t]here's one big issue with both of these maps: they tend to preserve the status quo—more specifically, the status quo of 2006, which is when the Comp Plan was created." Luckily, Whitehead reports that the D.C. Office of Planning is "organizing an effort to amend and update the Comprehensive Plan."
FULL STORY: These two maps are the guides to your neighborhood's future. Here's what you should know about them.

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

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

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself
The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

US Senate Reverses California EV Mandate
The state planned to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035, a goal some carmakers deemed impossible to meet.

Trump Cuts Decimate Mapping Agency
The National Geodetic Survey maintains and updates critical spatial reference systems used extensively in both the public and private sectors.

Washington Passes First US ‘Shared Streets’ Law
Cities will be allowed to lower speed limits to 10 miles per hour and prioritize pedestrians on certain streets.
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.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions