A columnist attributes the success of President-elect Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric with a rise in potentially illegal land use decisions around the state of Virginia.
Petula Dvorak writes a column for The Washington Post calling out the bigotry inherent to recent regulatory and legal frameworks of the planning profession.
"Sewage lines, traffic patterns and zoning ordinances. Meet the instruments of bigotry in America today," writes Dvorak.
Dvorak cites three recent examples of racism on display in recent planning and land use controversies in the state of Virginia—"cases where development regulations and mundane municipal laws have been used to smokescreen surging Islamophobia."
According to Dvorak, the episodes of racist opposition to Muslims are new to these communities, places like Spotsylvania County, Culpeper, and Nokesville.
Read the full story: A smokescreen for bigotry: Disguising anti-Muslim bias with land-use objections
Not Just Use: More Zoning Regulations to Unlock Housing Equity
Prohibiting single-family zoning alone won’t accomplish the needed transformation of the built environment in the United States.
After Waiting Two Days, Justice Department Appeals Transit Mask Ruling
Mystery surrounds the decision by the Biden administration to not ask for an immediate stay of an unanticipated district court ruling to vacate the CDC's masks-on-transit rule. Two days later they appealed as coronavirus cases increase nationwide.
Update: Coronavirus Vaccination Litigation against Biden Administration
The U.S. Justice Department filed its appeal on Nov. 23 before the 6th Circuit Court to reinstate the large private employer vaccination status requirement that the 5th Circuit had stayed after Republican governors and state attorneys general sued.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Study reveals best places in the U.S. for cycling, walking
New research from Streetlight Data examines bicycle and pedestrian miles per capita in the 100 largest U.S. cities by population.
DSA members accuse Mamdani of 'abandoning values' over housing redevelopment
New York City's mayor plans to replace about 2,000 units of public housing with private, mixed-income housing.
All sides of BRT debate unhappy with CDOT’s most recent move
The Colorado Department of Transportation is no longer considering center-running bus lanes for Colorado Boulevard.
Massachusetts bogs generate both power, and cranberries
Putting solar panels above farmland is one way Massachusetts is advancing toward its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
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 Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello