Urban Development

Signal Priority in N.Y.C. to Make Streets Safer for Cyclists
New York City will create green waves by adjusting traffic signals to keep cyclists moving, even when drivers will have to slow down.

Editorial: Toronto’s Snow Clearing Plan Isn’t Fair
The city’s plan for dealing with snow and ice on sidewalks this winter doesn't address past problems and won't meet the needs of residents, say critics.

Democratic Candidates Forget Transportation Emissions When Making Climate Plans
Multiple sources analyze the green credentials of the campaign platforms of the remaining field of Democrats vying for the highest office in the land and find one conspicuous absence: plans for reducing driving.

Philadelphia Searching for New Affordable Housing Tools
Two proposed pieces of legislation would create a new revenue stream for Philadelphia's affordable housing efforts and protect tenants of existing affordable units.

Urban and Suburban Lifestyles More Similar Than Thought, Study Says
The differences in the ways people who live in the city spend their time versus the way people who live in suburbs spend their time are few and small.

Opinion: Houston Should Vote Yes for MetroNext to Build Transit and Clean the Air
The executive director of Environment Texas makes the case for public transit as a key tool in improving air pollution in and around Houston. Houston voters will vote on the MetroNext bond referendum today.

DTLA 2040 Ready for Public Scrutiny in Los Angeles
Two community plan updates, to the Central City and the Central City North community plans, comprise the DTLA 2040 plan. DTLA 2040 is also the first showcase for the city's new zoning code system.

Detroit, 'Comeback City'
Despite the massive improvements Detroit has made both in public perception, it still has a long way to go to in overcoming misperceptions associated with its decades of struggles.

Pre-Fab Buildings to Ease the Housing Crisis
Modular housing is cheaper and faster to build compared to conventional buildings. These advantages could make it an effective and viable way to increase apartment housing stock.

Office Development Fee to Fund Affordable Housing Approved in San Francisco
A new fee would add an estimated 6 percent to the cost of building new office space in San Francisco, yet not many from the business community resisted the new costs.

Dramatic Overhaul Planned for Key North Philadelphia Intersection
An architecture critic writes about plans for a key intersection in North Philadelphia: "By all means, straighten out the street and make it safe, but keep the twists and turns that make this an authentic Philadelphia place."

Aging New York City Parks in Desperate Need of Repairs
The city’s parks are facing a crisis on the horizon resulting from a lack of maintenance and growing capital improvement needs.

A Tiny Lot for Sale in Vancouver, But There's a Catch
It seems like a tiny homes would be a good fit for such a small lot as this example in East Vancouver. But this lot is too tiny for even a tiny home.

Big Box Stores Leading the Shift to Renewable Energy
The cheap price of solar and wind energy have corporations "falling all over themselves" to embrace renewable, according to this article. Target and Wal-Mart lead the green arms race.

Distinguishing the Housing Shortage from Gentrification
Gentrification "mutates particular neighborhoods" while scarce housing "squeezes entire regions," Devin Michelle Bunten writes. Conflating the two can lead to inaccuracies in understanding.

Friday Funny: Zoning Provides Nationals Fans With Another Bragging Point Over Astros Fans
The worlds of baseball and zoning collide again.

Tax Increment Financing, Explained
CityLab University explains a controversial and misunderstood funding mechanism.

Sidewalk Labs' 'Smart Cities' Experiment in Toronto Scaled Way Back
From 190 acres to 12 acres, that's the reduction in scale announced this week by representatives of Sidewalk Labs of its plan for Quayside on the waterfront in Toronto.

Luxury Condos, Not Luxury Single-Family Homes, Take the Blame in the Affordability Debate
An article in The Urbanist suggests the ire over new developments is misplaced.

Mapping the Geography of Jobs and Around New York City
The geography of work in New York City must include an analysis of the larger region, according to a new report from the New York City Department of City Planning.
Pagination
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.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)