Quality of Life

Quality of Life Down in Golden State

A new poll of California residents finds that perceived quality of life in the state has dropped.

March 21, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

The Internet vs. the City

Will digital communications make cities obsolete, or can online connections actually complement the face-to-face interactions and the cities that support them?

March 1, 2011 - New York Times

The State of Happiness

A new study ranks the U.S. states by residents' happiness. From Louisiana (#1) to New York (#51), the happiest people tend to live in sunny, outdoorsy states with strong quality of life measures.

February 9, 2010 - USA Today

U.S. Cities Fare Poorly in World Livability Ranking

In terms of global urban livability, American cities are not so hot. The highest ranking city, Honolulu, comes in at 29 in the results of the Worldwide Quality of Living Survey.

May 5, 2009 - The Independent

Starting Up Small

Though typically centered in bigger cities, this piece from Business Week looks at the best small cities to locate startup businesses in every state.

March 28, 2009 - BusinessWeek

Study Finds Quality of Life Undamaged by Wal-Mart

The arrival of a town's new Wal-Mart is notorious for being detrimental to the community. But when it comes to social capital, obesity, leisure time, and social and political values, Wal-Mart might not be so bad after all, according to one study.

February 6, 2009 - Miller-McCune

Stress City, U.S.A.

By looking at city data and quality-of-life measures, Forbes has created a list of the most stressful cities in the U.S. Chicago, Detroit and New York rank the highest.

September 23, 2008 - Forbes

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.