A new on-street parking regime comes with a royal purple color scheme in a ritzy suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area.

San Francisco suburb Walnut Creek "now has a whole zone dedicated to long-term parking that didn’t exist before," reports Sam Richards.
"Approximately 1,000 spaces in an area bounded by Civic Drive on the east and south, Parkside Drive on the north and California Boulevard (and a short stretch of Main Street) on the west are now long-term spaces, at $1 an hour all day," according to Richards. A recent parking study found those spaces have been falling below the desired levels of occupancy, so the city is making changes to "even out the parking demand."
But one unique angle on this common story of a city tinkering with its on-street parking regulations, is the color the city is choosing to call attention to the new long-term parking spots. "A number of pole colors were considered for the newly christened long-term parking meters north of the downtown core area before city officials settled on purple," explains Richards.
FULL STORY: Parking by the purple: A long-term Walnut Creek solution

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?

Baker Creek Pavilion: Blending Nature and Architecture in Knoxville
Knoxville’s urban wilderness planning initiative unveils the "Baker Creek Pavilion" to increase the city's access to green spaces.

Pedestrian Deaths Drop, Remain Twice as High as in 2009
Fatalities declined by 4 percent in 2024, but the U.S. is still nowhere close to ‘Vision Zero.’

King County Supportive Housing Program Offers Hope for Unhoused Residents
The county is taking a ‘Housing First’ approach that prioritizes getting people into housing, then offering wraparound supportive services.
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.
planning NEXT
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie