Urban Development

Tilikum Crossing

Ride App Closes Up Shop

The Ride smartphone app, which has gathered millions of miles of bike trip data to help inform bike planning and encourage cycling, is moving on to micromobility.

August 13, 2019 - Bike Portland

Boston Seaport

Boston's Seaport District Still Lacking Diversity

The glitzy new neighborhood doesn’t cater to all Boston residents, according to a new survey.

August 13, 2019 - The Boston Globe

Oakland skyline and San Francisco Bay

Battle of the Bay: Oakland Ahead of San Francisco in Housing Construction

Call it a role reversal: Oakland is building far more apartments and housing units than San Francisco—a reversal of the history of development in the Bay Area.

August 13, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Olympic Mountains

State Law Allows for Local Reform of the Washington State Environmental Policy Act

Reform of the Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) is underway at the local level after a new state bill offered "safe harbor" under the law for a menu of land use and development reforms.

August 13, 2019 - The Urbanist

Jakarta Skyline

Jakarta's Suburb in the Sky

A rooftop housing development in the Indonesian capital takes the suburb to new heights.

August 13, 2019 - The Guardian

Ferguson, Missouri

UrbanPlan Program Aims to Inspire a More Diverse Generation of Planners

An Urban Land Institute program brings students into the discussion and gives them the tools to make a difference in the planning processes that define their communities.

August 12, 2019 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Los Angeles County Sprawl

Los Angeles County Sets 2050 Carbon Neutrality Target

Land use and transportation planning will play key roles in an effort by Los Angeles County to achieve carbon neutrality in 30 years.

August 12, 2019 - Smart Cities Dive

Los Angeles STreet

Level of Service Canceled in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles City Council voted to officially end the use of Level of Service in measuring environmental impact in favor of a more people-friendly measure: vehicle miles traveled.

August 12, 2019 - Streetsblog Los Angeles

Boston, Massachusetts

Ideas for Improving the Oldest Public Park in the U.S.

A windfall of $28 million will be spent to repair and renovate Boston Common—public input into the priorities of that spending would be appreciated.

August 12, 2019 - The Boston Globe

Cross-Laminated Timber

The Best Green Building and Development Materials in 2019

Green building practices are advancing quickly. Here is a sample of best practices in choosing the most sustainable materials for the job.

August 11, 2019 - Kayla Matthews

Housing Construction

Report: Impact Fees Add 18 Percent to the Cost of Housing in California

Development impact fees in California triple the national average. A bill in the State Legislature would reform the state's development fees, as one measure in an effort to build more housing in the state.

August 11, 2019 - The Mercury News

Cul de Sac

Uniform By Design: The Similarities of Suburbs

A Vox video digs into the history of how suburbs came to resemble each other.

August 11, 2019 - Vox

City Park Golf Course

Development vs. Open Space at a Denver Golf Course

A developer just bought a Denver-area golf course in the hopes of some day rezoning the site for residential and commercial development. Open space advocates have other ideas, as does the city (for now).

August 10, 2019 - The Denver Post

Detroit - Renaissance Center

After Changes, New Tower Might Not Be Detroit's Tallest Tower After All

A building under construction at the former site of J.L. Hudson's department store in Detroit will no longer reach 900 feet, as once planned.

August 10, 2019 - Detroit Free Press

Celebrity

Kanye West Lacks Permits for the Prototype Housing Units He Built

Kanye West's first foray into the development business is off to an inauspicious start.

August 9, 2019 - TMZ

Austin Mixed-Use

Austin Housing Authority Acquires Units on the Private Market

In an unusual move, Austin's housing authority is buying apartments on the private market to rent to Housing Choice Voucher holders.

August 9, 2019 - Next City

Alamo Square

'The Last Black Man in San Francisco' Pays Homage to the City’s People and Places

The film captures a gentrifying San Francisco by incorporating many subtle details about the city's past and present.

August 9, 2019 - San Francisco Examiner

Brooklyn Brownstones

Controversial N.Y.C. Housing Program Under Fire

The Third Party Transfer program lets the city transfer ownership of delinquent properties, but it unfairly targets communities of color, say critics.

August 9, 2019 - Curbed New York

Interstate 94

Maurice Cox Departs Detroit to Lead Planning Chicago

The highly praised head of planning in Detroit will assume the same role in Chicago.

August 8, 2019 - CBS Chicago

Rua Goncalo de Carvalho

Debunking Anti-Tree Myths

Most of the reasons street trees are sometimes unpopular with residents are either untrue or can be mitigated.

August 8, 2019 - PlanPhilly

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

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.