Slate
Opinion: It's Time to Destigmatize ‘Public Housing’
Upzoning efforts, while hugely controversial, often make only a small impact on housing supply, particularly in the short term. Could a return to government-built housing be the solution?
How Consultants Drive Up Transit Construction Costs
A new report suggests that an overreliance on external consultants by U.S. transit agencies and other government entities is hollowing out the public sector and raising the costs of transit projects.
Chain Drugstores Are Closing, But Not Because of Shoplifting
Massive chain drug stores have become integral members of the urban fabric, for better or worse, but widespread store closures and security practices have come to symbolize urban decline. The dynamic must be monitored.
How Right Turns on Red Became the Norm
Born out of the oil crisis of the 1970s, the practice of turning right on red lights is a uniquely American—and uniquely dangerous—custom.
Opinion: Make Halloween Car-Free
Forget razor blades in apples. Henry Grabar argues the biggest threat on Halloween is much more mundane.
Faster Food
Responding to pandemic-era shifts in customer demand, fast food and fast-casual chains are stripping away dining rooms, restrooms, and human cashiers in favor of drive-through and automated pickup options.
Why Golf Carts Could Quietly Revolutionize Transportation
More communities are catching on to the benefits of golf carts as a safe, low-emissions mode of transport for neighborhood trips.
Miami’s Return to Parking Minimums a Mystery to Housing Advocates
The city’s decision to reinstate parking requirements for housing developments will likely slow the recent boom of ‘missing middle housing’ construction.
How Japanese Cities Enable Toddlers To Roam Independently
A TV show featuring young Japanese children going on errands on their own highlights the differences between Japanese and American urban design that enable even toddlers to safely navigate big cities.
Massachusetts Gets Serious About Upzoning
A Massachusetts law aimed at reducing the state's housing shortage mandates zoning for multi-family housing in most eastern Massachusetts jurisdictions.
In Praise of Single-Staircase Construction
U.S. building codes mandate two staircases in multi-story buildings, but some argue this requirement reduces affordability and encourages wasteful, uninspired design.
Can't Drive 55: America's Dangerous Love of Speeding
While most Americans agree that speeding is a threat to public safety, dysfunctional laws and inadequate enforcement perpetuate a culture of tacitly sanctioned high-speed driving.
Opinion: Upzoning Isn't Just for Major Streets
The practice of limiting high-density development to busy arterial streets puts renters and low-income households at higher risk for the effects of air and noise pollution created on major roads.
Making The Switch To EVs Requires Robust Charging Infrastructure
With more states outlawing the sales of gas-powered vehicles and the federal government setting ambitious electrification goals, now is the time to invest in critical charging infrastructure.
Austin Leaders Denounce 20-Lane Freeway Project
TxDOT is pushing ahead with plans for a massive freeway expansion project through downtown Austin despite opposition from virtually all local leaders.
Eliminating Single-Family Zoning Alone Won't Solve California's Housing Crisis
While zoning reforms can help reduce barriers to building more housing, high construction costs and local opposition mean that the state won't see an immediate boom in density.
The Car-Free Revolution Continues in Paris
The city continues to reclaim space for pedestrians and cyclists.
How New York City Can Prepare for the Next Catastrophic Floods–Now
The city must take urgent action to mitigate the effects of increasingly damaging rainstorms.
How the Environmental Review Process Privileges Highway Construction Over Transit
U.S. transit projects have a much harder time getting environmental approval than road projects, perpetuating the dominance of cars in U.S. transportation policy.
COVID-19, AIDS, and CDC Guidance
Music critic Joel Rozen pens a unique perspective for Slate's "Coronavirus Diaries" on the Provincetown, Massachusetts cluster that prompted the CDC on July 27 to reverse its masking guidance for the fully vaccinated issued a month earlier.
Pagination
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
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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.