Urban Development

Three Parcels Donated for Affordable Housing Development by the City of Seattle

The city of Seattle took advantage of a new state law to donate three underused parcels to affordable housing developers.

September 10, 2019 - The Seattle Times

Northeast Minneapolis

Planning New 'Cultural Districts' in Minneapolis

Planners are giving shape to one of the potentially controversial aspects of the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

September 10, 2019 - MinnPost

Jersey City

Jersey City Building More Apartment Than Manhattan

And other perhaps surprising data from the multi-family housing development industry.

September 10, 2019 - Jersey Digs

Eastside Gold Line and Los Angeles skyline

Anti-Development Forces Strike at L.A.'s Transit Oriented Communities Program

There's a new front in the city of L.A.'s ongoing conflict between anti-development forces and efforts to add density at and around transit.

September 10, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

St. Louis, Missouri

University Redevelopment Plan Includes For-Sale Housing

St. Louis University is helping stabilize the neighborhood located near its medical campus—instead of expanding the campus into property it owns around the campus, it is building houses to sell.

September 9, 2019 - St. Louis Public Radio

Washington D.C. Sports

D.C. Will Say Goodbye to RFK Stadium

It's last sporting tenant departed in 2017, and the District has large redevelopment plans for the site, but the decision to finally raze RFK Stadium has only recently been made official.

September 9, 2019 - The Washington Post

BART Station

Research: Distance Matters More Than Multi-Modal Trips for Reducing Carbon Emissions

European researchers have published a new study in the journal Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment that might be a hard pill to swallow for some transit advocates.

September 9, 2019 - Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment

Presidential Blvd Road Diet

A New Form-Based Zoning Code and the 'Conflicted Soul' of the Suburbs

The new form-based zoning code under consideration in the affluent Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion "has something to teach Philadelphia and other big cities about how to organize density smartly," according to Inga Saffron.

September 9, 2019 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Arizona

28,000 Homes Planned for Desert Southeast of Tucson

A master planned community would add 70,000 new residents to a city of 5,000 located southeast of Tucson, Arizona. Local and regional environmental groups don't think the environmental risks of the development have been properly considered.

September 9, 2019 - Arizona Public Media

Mount Hood

Portland Adjusts Residential Infill Plan to Minimize Displacement

Portland wants to add density but doesn't want to displace current residents of low- and middle-income neighborhoods.

September 8, 2019 - The Oregonian

Los Angeles Medical Center

Better Urban Planning for Better Public Health (In the Real World)

A researcher at the University of Sydney in Australia offers three recommendations for planners to better negotiate the real world of politics and governance to help create healthier communities.

September 8, 2019 - The Conversation

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon-Adjacent Development Revises Plans to Pave Roads Through National Forest

Developers want to build roads through the Kaibab National Forest to serve a controversial development, including a resort and hundreds of homes, planned for a location just South of the Grand Canyon.

September 7, 2019 - Arizona Republic

Baltimore, Maryland

Low Income People of Color More Likely to Suffer Extreme Heat

A recently published report finds more evidence to elevate heat as a matter of environmental justice.

September 7, 2019 - NPR

Seattle Regional Transit Systems

A Transit-Oriented Regional Growth Plan

The Vision 2050 plan, which charts the growth for King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Kitsap counties in Washington State, would focus almost all the growth meant to accommodate 1.8 million new residents inside urban areas.

September 6, 2019 - The Urbanist

NIMBY Sign

New Research Ties Lack of Density to Lack of Affordability in California

New research using the Terner Center California Residential Land Use Survey also connects demographic trends to housing development opposition.

September 6, 2019 - Terner Center for Housing Innovation

Durham City Park

New Density Planned as Affordable Housing, Growth Management Tool in Durham, North Carolina

The City Council of Durham, North Carolina has approved changes to the city's master plan, first approved in 2005, to allow new forms of density in residential neighborhoods proximate to the city's downtown urban core.

September 6, 2019 - News & Observer

Old Timey Ticky Tacky

Unlocking the Market for Affordable Homeownership with Private Capital

Charles Loveman, executive director of Heritage Housing Partners, explains the historical role that subsidized demand played in spurring housing production and the value of low to moderate-income affordable homeownership development.

September 5, 2019 - The Planning Report

Baltimore Middle Branch Patapsco River

Transforming the Waterfront into Baltimore's 'Blue Green Heart'

Dutch design firm West 8 recently won a competition to rethink an 11-mile stretch of the Baltimore's waterfront, not to be confused with a $5.5 billion project to redevelop Port Covington.

September 5, 2019 - Next City

Arizona Street

In Tucson, Sweltering Heat Threatens the Most Vulnerable

When the temperatures become dangerous in this desert city, not everyone has the option to retreat to air-conditioned spaces to wait it out.

September 4, 2019 - The Guardian

Los Angeles River

L.A. County's Sustainability Plan Crafted With a Little Help From University Friends

Los Angeles County's new, ambitious sustainability plan was crafted in collaboration with the significant resources available in the region, including one of the nation's finest public universities.

September 4, 2019 - UCLA Newsroom

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.