Social / Demographics

Editorial Sounds Alarms About the 'Illinois Exodus'
The Chicago Tribune sends a message to the political leadership of Illinois and Chicago about population decline, and its causes.

Op-Ed: Seattle Resilience Roadmap Feels 'Retrospective'
Natalie Bicknell notes several deficiencies in the roadmap that resulted from Seattle's participation in the Rockefeller Foundation's now-defunct 100 Resilient Cities program.

Seattle Tiny-Home Villages Facing Host of Challenges
The villages offer much-needed housing for homeless people, but controversy is brewing over their operations.

Car-Free Cities, Measured
The CityLab team has created a new metric to measure the U.S. cities where people are most likely to be car free.

The Psychic Forces of NIMBY Rage
With several years of contentious political debates, many surrounding homelessness, ravaging Seattle, a writer attempts to explain how the politics of city building got so heated.

Food Deserts Need the Right Kinds of Supermarkets
Research indicates that opening a supermarket in an area that needs it is not enough. The ownership model and relationship to the community are essential to long-term success.

A First-Even Feral Cat Count in Toronto
The number of feral cats in Toronto is declining, which is a good thing for the cats.
Where Demographic Trends Tilt More White in Seattle
A story of gentrification in an already relatively white city.

The Diversity of Biking in Art and Culture
Bikes are an important part of many people’s lives, and fostering a world where cycling has a place involves recognizing this diversity of experience.

First-Time Home Buyers Look Different Than They Once Did
New home-buyers are a little older and a lot more likely to be single than they were 20 years ago.

Planning New 'Cultural Districts' in Minneapolis
Planners are giving shape to one of the potentially controversial aspects of the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

Multi-Car Owners May Pay Sustainability Fee to Fund Memphis Area Transit
Called a 'sustainability fee' by Mayor Lee Harris of Shelby County, the proposed fee would apply only to households that have three or more registered vehicles, about 17 percent of county residents. The first two vehicles would be exempt.

Revisiting the Megaregion
The idea of cities as components of larger megaregions has lost some of its popularity, Alon Levy looks at regions around the world to try to understand how useful the concept is in understanding cities and regions.

109 Counties Became 'Majority Nonwhite' Since 2000
The United States is still mostly populated by white people, but there are plenty of places where that is no longer true.

The Dire Straits of the Working Homeless
Due to stagnant wages and the lack of affordable housing in many U.S. cities, even people with jobs are finding themselves slipping into homelessness.

Skateboarding and the City
Skateboarding is becoming a legitimate part of the urban landscape by revitalizing public spaces and engaging young people and the broader community.

Op-Ed: Street Safety Is a Matter of Race
What do traffic safety and gun violence have in common? A lot, as it turns out. In both cases, hard-hit neighborhoods tend to have suffered from historical disinvestment along racial lines.

Ensuring Equity in Memphis Riverfront Development
One of the city’s biggest assets is its riverfront, but equity and inclusion need to be an important part of what development brings to residents and communities.

New Ideas in Urban Research 2019
Research questions and findings from Penn IUR's emerging scholars.

What Are America's Fastest-Growing Cities?
Views about urban growth and decline often rely on statistics for metropolitan regions rather than cities proper. Here, Richard Florida looks at the fastest- and slowest-growing cities in America, separate from their metro areas.
Pagination
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 Moorpark
City of Tustin
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