City Rankings
The 100 Best Cities for Doing Business
Area Development Online looks for the most desirable locations to locate a business, and finds that smaller cities are outperforming larger ones. Austin, Texas was the indisputable winner.
Why Honolulu Tops Best Transit List
Jarrett Walker looks at a recent "Top Cities for Transit" list that ranks Honolulu #1, and says the criteria that the Brookings Institution used are "especially perverse".
Houston: City of the Year?
Fast Company chooses Houston as its 2011 City of the Year, citing its sense of opportunity and general affordability as the major reasons for its selection.
The Problem With "Most Livable Cities" Lists
Edwin Heathcote of the Financial Times says that lists of the "Best Cities" often fail because they select cities that are the most "livable", ignoring what makes cities "lovable".
The Worst Cities for Traffic
INRIX, a traffic analysis company, recently released its 100 Most Congested Metros list. Los Angeles and New York predictably come out on top, but the more interesting finding is that traffic has increased significantly.
Safest City Neighborhood in the U.S. is in Los Angeles
As WalletPop notes, "some city neighborhoods are actually safer than most neighborhoods in America regardless of whether they are urban or rural." The area around Cahuenga Blvd. in L.A. comes out on top, with a crime rate of .96 per thousand.
What Makes A City Great? An American Perspective
H.V. Savitch attempts to break down the attributes that make a city great, and concludes that a city need not score high in all the categories in order to achieve greatness.
Rating Cities on the Trick-or-Treater Index
What makes a city a great place to go trick-or-treating? Richard Florida takes the question seriously, ranking cities on walkability, the number of kids in the population, and a certain Halloween spirit.
Can A City Be Designed for Scientific Innovation?
A new study looks at the best cities in the world for science, using publication rates in as the basis. The researchers
The Best Public Spaces in the U.S.
The American Planning Association has released its 2010 selections for great public spaces, streets and neighborhoods, ranging from a sculpture garden in Alabama to New York's transformed Bryant Park.
Why "Top 10 Cities" Lists Are Impossible to Resist
Publishers and marketing folks admit that the barrage of lists titled "Top 10 Places To...." is inspired purely by the public's inability to resist clicking them.
The Best Cities and Towns for College
The American Institute of Economic Research ranks the best cities and towns in which to attend college, using academic achievement, quality of life, and professional opportunities as factors.
The Best "Adventure Towns" in the U.S.
Outside Magazine compiles their top 25 U.S. towns for outdoor adventure. Considered alongside the availability of great kayaking and biking were stats like percentage of college graduates and cost of living.
Most Successful Urban Planning - Ever?
Public Servant Blog dares to compile a completely subjective list of the Top 20 Urban Planning Successes of All Time, with selections ranging from the obvious (Amsterdam) to the less so (Marimont, Ohio). See if you agree.
Money's "Best Place to Live" Is Seriously Lacking in Place
Eden Prairie, Minnesota tops Money Magazine's recent list of Best Places to Live 2010. Blogger Chris O'Leary points out that Eden Prairie is devoid of anything to separate it from any other suburb, and in fact has no downtown at all.
Several CA Cities On "Least Educated Cities" List
The Huffington Post uses numbers from The Brookings Institution to look at the ten cities with the lowest percentage of bachelor's degrees in the nation. Half of them are in California.
Small Cities Fill CNN's 'Best Places to Live'
Apparently metropolises are out- CNN Money's annual list of the "Best Places to Live" is filled with small cities like Eden Prairie, Minnesota and Overland Park, Kansas.
Washington D.C. is the Healthiest City in the U.S.?
A new study by the American College of Sports Medicine says so, due to low rates of diabetes, obesity and several other factors. Oklahoma City is not OK, however; it's at the bottom of the list.
No U.S. Cities in Top 25 Best Cities of the World
London-based consulting company Mercer released their yearly rankings of the 25 most liveable cities, and no American cities make the grade. Vienna is number one, and Vancouver takes fourth.
Fixing Neighborhoods in Savannah
Fast Company released their annual "Fast Cities" issue, featuring 12 cities the editors believe are taking innovative approaches. Savannah, Georgia was chosen for its Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah program, which cleans up abandoned homes.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
