Planning
The Equity Case for Upzoning Wealthy Neighborhoods
New York City has completed a series of rezoning processes focused mostly on lower-income areas in the city. Here's what it would take to upzone wealthier parts of the city, and why the city should make it happen.
Well Done, Kiwis! New Zealand Delivers Big Planning Policy Reforms
New Zealand’s new national urban development policy prohibits parking minimums and increases allowable building heights near transit stations. This is a watershed moment for the country’s cities and towns.
Growing Use of Trails Highlights the Work of Trail Planners
Trails have become very popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Find out more about how trail planners in L.A. County plan for multi-use trails and promote the safe use of trails.
New Zealand Eliminates Parking Minimums and Height Limits to Increase Urban Infill
Once again, New Zealand shows the way! The national government's new urban development policy will eliminate off-street parking requirements and remove low height-limits near transit stations to encourage more efficient infill development.
NYC Rezoning Plan Reinstated Despite Lack of Racial Impact Analysis
The New York Appellate Division's First Department made short work of a ruling that reinstated the Inwood NYC Action Plan, which a lower court dismissed in December 2019.
The Great Debate: Will the Pandemic Alter the Course of Urbanism?
The geography for the coronavirus has changed, but most of the debate about the future of cities continues along many of the same lines as in the early months of the pandemic.
How Much Parking Is Too Much Parking at D.C.'s Union Station?
Plans to expand and upgrade Union Station in D.C. might have gone overboard with parking, according to the public comments on the project's draft Environmental Impact Statement.
New Layer of Equity Analysis Considered for Regional Planning in Northeast Ohio
The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is considering a new policy that will add considerations about regional economic inequities when evaluating potential highway projects.
Roswell, Georgia Limits Multi-Family Development Despite Affordability Concerns
The Roswell City Council discussed how limiting multi-family developments could increase housing costs, and then voted to limit multi-family development anyway.
Community Planning Groups Scrutinized for Demographic Disparities in San Diego
Older, white homeowners take up far more than an equal share of the seats at the planning table in San Diego.
Sunday Fun: What's a Collective Noun for a Group of City Planners?
Stephen Quinn, host of CBC Radio One's popular morning show The Early Edition, offered a prompt to the Twitterverse last week and inspired plenty of creativity.
Plan Bay Area 2050 Draft Released
A regional plan for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area is available for public comment.
Three Key Calls to Action to Improve Racial Equity in Transit Policy
Important changes are necessary to promote racial equity in transit policy, governance, and agency recruitment, according to Darnell Grisby, director of policy development at the American Public Transit Association.
How Houston Achieved Lot Size Reform
Nolan Gray of George Mason University and Adam A. Millsap of the Charles Koch Institute write about a recent article they authored in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.
How GIS Helps Plan Parks
With constrained budgets, a geographic information system (GIS) may seem like a luxury for parks agencies. But to perform data-driven planning and advance park equity, GIS is an indispensable tool.
Car-Centric Choices Shortchange the Walkability Goals of the 2010 Tysons Comp Plan
Ten years after Tysons, an unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia, approved an award winning comprehensive plan, there's still work to be done to achieve its ambitious goals.
Pandemic Planning Must Reconcile With the Inequities of the Past
The ongoing debate about the role of marginalized communities in the emergency planning programs of the pandemic has now been detailed on the pages of the New York Times.
Caltrain on the Rocks as Sales Tax Measure Fails
Advocates are concerned about the possibility of Caltrain entirely shutting down—less than a year after the commuter rail line seemed positioned for a massive expansion of service.
David Alpert to Step Down at Greater Greater Washington
Leadership change is coming to one of the best local sources of planning news in the country, after Greater Greater Washington founder and executive director David Alpert announced plans to move on.
What Are Zoning Codes?
Local governments use zoning codes to define what can and cannot be built. While comprehensive plans and other kinds of plans lay out a vision for the future, zoning codes offer the legal tools to implement that vision.
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
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
