Urban Development

Philadelphia's Waterfront Showing Signs of Life

After decades of promises of improvements along the Delaware River In Philadelphia with little to show for it, recent "small but powerful" public improvements are remaking the city's waterfront into a "welcoming, fun place to hang out."

September 8, 2014 - Philadelphia Inquirer

Los Angeles County's Creative Plans to Boost Parks

A recent Los Angeles Times article described the creative ways the city of Los Angeles is trying to meet park needs. Los Angeles County park planner Clement Lau describes the county's side of the story.

September 7, 2014 - UrbDeZine

SoHo Greenwich New York

Historic Preservation as the Enemy of Diversity

A recent article takes a controversial stance contrary to the argument of Jane Jacobs that old buildings equal affordable, diverse neighborhoods.

September 7, 2014 - Market Urbanism

Staying Vigilant on Level of Service Reform

The Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) Switchboard blog chimes in on the potential benefits of California's ongoing reform of Level of Service (LOS) review.

September 6, 2014 - NRDC Switchboard

Learning to 'Place-Decode' the Elements of Urbanism

Chuck Wolfe champions the role of France's attachment to place as a laboratory for decoding the essential elements of urbanism.

September 5, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Safe Routes to School

Green Health Tools for 'Back to School'

Nisha Botchwey and Kirsten Cook detail the articles available on the subject of green health and schools in the Summer 2014 issue of the Journal of Planning Education. (Articles mentioned in this post have Open Access through September.)

September 5, 2014 - JPER

Euro-Envy Reconsidered: Talkin' Time, Distance, and Change

Most North American urbanists turn to Europe for inspiration and direction. Some of that brilliance, Ben Brown reminds us, is due to time and distance.

September 3, 2014 - PlaceShakers

Crowd

What a Megacity with 107 Million People Looks Like—via SimCity

Writing for Motherboard, Derek Mead details what it took for a particularly ambitious SimCity player to build a city of 100 million people.

September 2, 2014 - Motherboard

Road Diet Plans Shelved for San Francisco's Ocean Beach

After two years of work, SPUR's proposals for the Ocean Beach Master Plan are still taking shape. A road diet for vehicle lanes on the Great Highway, for instance, was recently shelved for the good of other pressing priorities.

September 2, 2014 - S.F. Streetsblog

Dire Economic Fallout Expected from Atlantic City Casino Closures

Casinos in Atlantic City are closing quickly, costing the local economy 5,700 jobs and leaving the city with four large, empty buildings of a variety that offers little or no precedent for reuse.

September 2, 2014 - Philadelphia Inquirer

Rainbow Crosswalk

The Future of the Gayborhood

With the advancement of LGBT rights and equality, the traditionally LGBT neighborhood is changing to reflect the tastes and preferences of the new LGBT community within.

September 2, 2014 - Reuben Duarte

How One Town Cut Operations to Invest in Capital Projects

A detailed case study of Kokomo, Indiana, which has achieved an impressive record of investments in streetscape and other capital projects, even as it struggled to deal with the effects of the recession.

September 1, 2014 - Urbanophile

London's Height Debate Reaches Fever Pitch

In the midst of a building boom and expecting another 1.4 million residents to live in the city by 2031, London is embroiled in a debate about how it should meet housing demands.

August 30, 2014 - New York Times

St. Petersburg, Florida Launches Downtown Waterfront Master Plan

St. Petersburg is one of those lucky few cities granted the benefits of a downtown waterfront setting in a warm climate. But what will that waterfront look like in the future?

August 29, 2014 - Tampa Bay Times

Sunnyside Queens

Where Have all the Affordable Cities Gone?

Angie Schmitt follows up on an earlier report by the Citizen's Budget Commission that made an argument for the affordability of cities like New York City, with its large network of cheap transportation.

August 29, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

What's in a Name? Gentrification Sparks Denver's Northside vs. Highlands Debate

David Conde discusses the new reality taking hold in traditionally Latino neighborhoods on the Northside of Denver, especially the reactions to the name for the area adopted by newcomers: the Highlands.

August 28, 2014 - La Voz

Seeking Input: Atlanta's 'Plan 2040'

Plan 2040 is the Atlanta region's plan to accommodate about 3 million new residents in the next 25 years. A new survey is looking for feedback about just how the region should approach that staggering growth.

August 28, 2014 - Curbed Atlanta

Chicago El

A Planner's Guide to Chicago

Pete Saunders, blogger with the Corner Side Yard and professional planning consultant, wrote a post explaining Chicago for the U.K. publication Guardian Cities.

August 27, 2014 - Guardian Cities

Columbus, Ohio Launches 'insight2050' Plan to Curb Sprawl

The Mid Ohio Planning Commission (MORPC) is working with Columbus 2020, ULI Columbus, and planning firm Calthorpe and Associates to head up a new effort called insight2050 that will develop "objective analytical tools" to prepare for growth.

August 27, 2014 - Columbus Underground

Sidewalks Left Out of Nashville Development Fee System

Josh Brown reports for the Tennessean on the unintended consequences of a fee waiver meant to encourage infill development—developers are readily choosing to pay the fee instead of building sidewalks.

August 27, 2014 - The Tennessean

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.

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.