Urban Development

Report: Sprawl Affecting Farmers in Greater Washington Region
According to a recent report, the self-sufficiency of agriculture in the Washington, D.C. region is declining. Encroachment from suburban sprawl, driven by a region-wide housing crunch, is one causal factor.
Contest: Design a Logo for New York's Privately-Owned Public Spaces
New York City is holding a competition for a distinctive logo to clearly demarcate all of its 550 privately-owned public spaces.

Controversy Erupts Over Sidewalk Labs Development Plans in Toronto
Sidewalk Labs, the subsidiary company of Google parent company Alphabet, has designs for development potential far beyond the Quayside neighborhood where it's partnering with Waterfront Toronto to test new smart city technology.

When Analyzing Suburbs, Definitions Matter
The definitions of suburban chosen by researchers tend to fall into three categories—and each has a significant impact and the results of academic inquiry.

Chicago's Largest-Ever Tax Increment Financing District Approved for Lincoln Yards Development
The new TIF is expected to generate $900 million. Opponents wanted to wait until a new mayor is elected to decide on the TIF.

Seattle Sustains Record Development Boom
In the past ten years, Downtown Seattle has built more housing than all of San Francisco.

The Robert Moses Nexus to Amazon's Cancellation of Queens HQ2
Last week, Amazon abruptly canceled its decision to invest about $2.5 billion and bring 25,000 high-paying jobs to Queens. A scholar blames their abrupt decision on an arcane state bureaucracy tasked with preventing Robert Moses-like takings.

Philadelphia Sees Record Housing Production
An influx of millennials is driving population and housing growth in the Center City neighborhood.

Obama Presidential Center Dealt Legal Setback
There are more than a few reasons to think that the Obama Presidential Center won't go the way of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which gave up and decamped for Los Angeles.

Keeping the Dream Alive of a Downtown Freeway Cap in Atlanta
Advocates and experts are still working to further the idea of capping a Downtown freeway connector in Atlanta—a project called "The Stitch."

Oregon to Consider New Densities for Transit Adjacent Neighborhoods
The Oregon Legislature is already considering one of the most sweeping and ambitious statewide land use reform bills in the country. A new bill would allow even more density around transit stations.

Major Street Redesign Coming to Pittsburgh's Historic Strip District
Five blocks in Pittsburgh's Historic Produce Terminal Strip District will gain wider sidewalks, public spaces, and traffic calming according to a recently released final design concept.

San Antonio's Draft Climate Plan Receives Relatively Warm Reception
The public had its first chance to weigh in on a draft climate plan released in January, sending signals about the political viability of climate change action in the state of Texas.

Explained: The Common Look of the Contemporary Mid-Rise Apartment Building
Last week's urbanism social media landscape was dominated by discussion of an article that digs into the historical and technical origins of the contemporary mid-rise apartment building type.

Manhattan Rezonings Pose Tough Challenges for Planners
The New York City Department of Planning kicked off a rezoning process for the Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo earlier this month. Planning and development challenges abound.

Form at the Forefront of Zoning Code Rewrite in Covington, Kentucky
The city of Covington is conducting public hearings to gather feedback on at the outset of an 18-month process of rewriting its zoning code.

Development, Population Growth Reshaping Downtown Minneapolis
Thousands of news residents and apartment units, along with almost a billion dollars of development investments, arrived in Downtown Minneapolis in 2017.

Post-Mortem: Why Amazon Canceled the Queens HQ2
New York City and State offered up nearly $3 billion in incentives to lure Amazon and its 25,000 high-paying jobs to Queens only to see the tech company cancel their plans after local opposition materialized. Was their retreat too hasty?

Another Approach to Affordable Housing
A new approach to affordable housing attempts to overcome the traditional approaches of supply-side economics and government-funded investments and extractions.

Making Historic Preservation a Local Concern
The city of Portland wants more local control when it comes to determining matters of historic preservation.
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.
Borough of Carlisle
Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)