Pedestrian Advocacy

Castro Street Pedcrossing with Rainbow Flag Colour

California Set to Decriminalize Jaywalking

Pedestrian and civil rights advocates have long argued that jaywalking laws are overly punitive and unequally enforced.

September 26, 2021 - Bloomberg CityLab

Why Aren't Bike and Pedestrian Activists Teaming with Urbanists?

A new benchmarking report on biking and walking reveals a big hole in this growing movement — many ped-bike advocates rarely talk to urbanists, and vice-versa.

May 21, 2014 - Better! Cities & Towns

A History of 'Jaywalking' Shame: Santa Claus, Boy Scouts, and Clowns

With jaywalking enforcement policies recently making news in New York City and Los Angeles, more of the media is pushing back on long-held assumptions about who rules the road. Here’s a primer on how jaywalking became a crime.

February 12, 2014 - BBC News Magazine

Emerging Street Life of So Cal's San Fernando Valley Threatened

L.A. Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne reports on the changing nature of Lankershim Blvd., which appears to be at a crossroads between integrating transit into a multi-modal future or turning to outdated planning strategies.

January 6, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Establishing a Voice for Pedestrians in Los Angeles

Nate Berg chronicles the efforts of planner and urban designer Deborah Murphy to establish a pedestrian advocacy group in one of the few large cities in the U.S. that doesn't have one.

April 15, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

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.