Walkability
Land Use Success and Failure in Two Florida Towns
This post from NRDC's Kaid benfield compares the two Florida cities of Lehigh Acres and Venice, where land use decisions created one city doomed to fail and another that's on a fast rise.
Is Walkscore A Useful Planning Tool?
The online walkability tool is sexy but not perfect. Real estate site are beginning to use it; could planners use it too? Bill Fulton gives his two cents.
Carfree Design Manual
As planners, one of our roles is to help stretch the scope of what is considered possible. For example, between 1950 and 2000 most development was highly automobile-dependent, based on the assumption that almost all travel would be by personal automobile and other modes were relatively unimportant. This pattern is so well established that many people have difficulty imagining anything different. It is useful to help people understand the full range of options available, from automobile dependency to carfree communities.
A State-by-State Look at Biking and Walking
A new report from the Alliance for Biking & Walking takes a state-by-state look at the cycling and walking community, safety statistics, and investment figures.
Walkability and Housing Values
Walkability is gaining ground in the determination of housing values.
Carfree Guangzhou
While car use is growing in Beijing and other Chinese cities, cars account for less than 1% of trips in the Xiguan district of Guangzhou. Karl Fjellstrom explains how the city has used preserved its historic core for walking.
Somewhere Between Blight and Gentrification...
Is there a happy medium between the run-down liquor store and the gourmet shop? What is the best form of Main Street retail, as people move back to the city and re-emergent neighborhoods acquire shops and services that were once lacking?
Walkable Las Vegas?
Developers and locals in Las Vegas are pinning hopes onto the new CityCenter development to bring walkability to the desert city.
A Sea of Infrastructure
An ex-pat American returns home to Milwaukee, and is overwhelmed by the extensive auto-oriented infrastructure needed to support the U.S. lifestyle, very different from his life in Almeria, Spain.
Walkscore to Get Bus Points
Transit stops are now included on Walkscore, the map-mashup website that scores neighborhoods based on their accessibility and walkability.
Halloween Costumes for Urban Planners - 2nd Edition
The second edition list of the best urban planning costume ideas.
Sidewalk Design Vehicle
A few days ago I posted a blog that discussed the concept of Universal Design (transportation facilities designed to accommodate all possible users, including those with disabilities and other special needs) and the value it provides to individuals and communities. One way to approach this issue is to define the design vehicle for pedestrian facilities.
El Paso to Walk the Walk
Citing a recent study that demonstrates higher home values in walkable neighborhoods, officials in El Paso say it's time to change the way their city grows.
Study Shows TND Encourages Walking
Orenco Station in Portland, OR shows that traditional neighborhood development (TND) can decrease car use and encourage walking, according to a new study.
Residential Infill, 70's-Style
In 1979, the City of San Diego launched a plan to steer new development into the craftsman-lined neighborhoods close to downtown. The idea was sound: scatter higher density housing throughout existing smart growth communities.
Can Local Stores Have An Impact on Global Warming?
A revival of small, neighborhood retailers could be an important strategy for countering climate change, enticing people to run errands without driving their cars.
Houston To Require Better Walkability Around Transit Stations
City officials in Houston have unanimously approved zoning and policy changes that will encourage walkable development around the city's expanding light rail network.
Better Walkability, Higher Value
A recent study finds a correlation between a neighborhood's walkability and its home values.
Recasting the Station as the Neighborhood Nucleus
Zoning changes around the train station in New Carrollton, Maryland seek to redefine the city into a more vibrant, walkable area. The changes have received preliminary approval.
Can "Walkable" and "Bucolic" Go Hand in Hand?
There is controversy over new sidewalk laws in Washington, DC.
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
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
