Bruce Tolar

Filling in the 'Missing Middle': No New Wheels, Please

A new crop of developers are delivering fine-grained urbanism. Ben Brown checks into their boot camp and provides an update on the movement.

February 2, 2016 - PlaceShakers

Ideas for Housing Opportunity: Some Sorta Oldish, Lots Very NUish

The latest in a list of tip-of-the-spear practitioners combining their own experience and expertise with the lessons of others who share similar commitments to the easy-to-grasp, hard-to-realize ideas driving new urbanism.

May 27, 2015 - PlaceShakers

Small Lot Townhouses

Will Small Go Big in 2015? Maybe. Finally. Here's why.

Dwell small; live large. It's something many passionate urbanists have been working on for a decade. Could 2015 finally be the year small goes big?

January 19, 2015 - PlaceShakers

Arlington Virginia

Urban vs. Suburban: The Debate Continues

However your read the tea leaves, if it's true the 'burbs are reinventing themselves in the new era, it’s walkable, compact urbanism that's providing a game plan.

December 18, 2014 - PlaceShakers

Glenwood Green Acres, Philadelphia

Are We There Yet? Affordability in the 'New Normal'

In the new normal, an affordable lifestyle is suddenly of interest to a larger circle of us. Here's what some interesting innovators are doing about it, between now and when our politics and legal structure fully align with our needs.

July 28, 2014 - PlaceShakers

What Can Sandy Learn from Katrina about Housing?

As the Sandy clean-up gets underway, could this be an opportunity for the Eastern Seaboard to apply some of the rebuilding lessons learned along the Gulf Coast after Katrina? Ben Brown shares some pointers.

November 6, 2012 - PlaceShakers

Innovation when Good Planning Policy Has Become the Norm

Scott Doyon argues for a stripped-down, back-to-basics 'punk rock' approach to urban growth and development to replace the 'rock and roll' excesses of planning during the housing boom; and he profiles the new innovators who are doing just that.

February 5, 2012 - PlaceShakers

Cottages = Small Scale Infill & Affordability

They've been tough to build, thanks to a market skewed towards suburban-style houses via tax, infrastructure, mortgage, and land value subsidies, says Ben Brown. But six years after the storm, Katrina Cottages offer some hard-won solutions.

August 6, 2011 - PlaceShakers

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.