Urban Development

Building on Assets Creates a Better Buffalo

Low interest rates and incentives from the state are helping Buffalo, NY to leverage its waterfront and extraordinary architecture to create a vibrant downtown, with historic preservation and adaptive reuse projects at center stage.

August 22, 2013 - The Architect's Newspaper

Bloomberg Backs Off Plan for Private Development of Public Housing Land

A controversial plan to generate revenue for New York City's struggling public housing authority by allowing private development is being reconfigured and pushed off until the next administration after it received considerable opposition.

August 22, 2013 - The New York Times

Taking Bicycle Parking to the Streets

We can best thank Portland and other pioneers for all their hard work with on-street bicycle parking (a.k.a. "bike corrals") by simply benefitting ourselves from their efforts. Here's how...

August 21, 2013 - Ian Sacs

Popularity Threatens Progress in Boston's Booming Seaport District

With growth ten years ahead of estimates, Boston's Innovation District is in need of some fresh ideas to help stave of death by traffic asphyxiation. Local roads and mass transit are already stretched to capacity during the evening commute.

August 20, 2013 - The Boston Globe

Planning for Obsolescence

As college becomes less affordable, alternatives to the traditional four-year model have been making inroads, leading some to question its lasting viability. If universities struggle, it will impact not only campuses, but cities, as well.

August 19, 2013 - Mark Hough

Why the 'Yankee Way' is No Way to Build a Resilient City

Anyone living in New York, or paying attention to baseball, knows how one failed splashy signing can sink a team's competitiveness. Rather than trying to win with home runs, local governments should be playing small ball, argues Charles Marohn.

August 19, 2013 - Strong Towns

Is Change By Another Name Still Gentrification?

Those investing in the largely Latino enclave of Boyle Heights prefer to use the term "gentefication" - a play on the Spanish word for people - rather than the pejorative gentrification, to describe their efforts to improve the L.A. neighborhood.

August 19, 2013 - The New York Times

Philly's Ugliest New Building Shows the Folly of Public Subsidies

Philadelphia Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron has the knives out for a new hotel built in Center City, calling it the 'worst new architecture' in the city. Worse yet, we all helped pay for such awful design.

August 19, 2013 - philly.com

The Evolution of Bloomberg's New York

This interactive feature from the New York Times employs animation and photographs of the city over time to explore the places where the outgoing Mayor has left the biggest impression.

August 19, 2013 - The New York Times

Who's Returning To The City

Are children, millenials and baby boomers returning to cities? The best answer: sometimes, sometimes, and maybe not.

August 17, 2013 - Michael Lewyn

CA Redevelopment Bill: Communist Land Grab or Catalyst for Affordable Housing?

Amid political demagoguery, a bill to help spur infill redevelopment and the creation of affordable housing in California, following the dismantling the state's redevelopment agencies, is advancing through the California legislature.

August 16, 2013 - Frying Pan News

Will Short-Term 'Failure' Lead to Long-Term Success of St. Louis Ballpark Village?

Last week the St. Louis Cardinals heralded the opening of a surface parking lot as a 'milestone' in the $650 million mixed-use development known as Ballpark Village. For Alderman Scott Ogilvie the lot represents the 'total failure' of the project.

August 15, 2013 - St. Louis Riverfront Times

Could Saudi Arabia's New Subway Unleash a Social Revolution?

The construction of Riyadh's Metro has ambitious goals to relieve gridlock and reduce obesity. Perhaps more importantly, it aims to grant women the freedom of mobility. “That's a lot to expect from a public transport system,” writes Susanne Koelbl.

August 14, 2013 - Spiegel Online

Cities vs Suburbs: Where do Parents Want to Raise Their Children?

Tanya Snyder wades into the ongoing discussion over whether America's urban revival can be sustained, a question that essentially hinges on whether cities are creating an attractive alternative to the suburbs for raising children.

August 14, 2013 - DC.Streetsblog

Would You Live in D.C.'s 'Middle Finger' Monstrosity?

It's being called 'the Monstrosity' and a 'middle finger to taste and scale', but you'd be wrong if you called it illegal. The three story 'pop-up' a developer has added to a two-story DC rowhouse has engendered a spirited debate amid a growing city.

August 14, 2013 - The Washington Post

Indianapolis Revival Is a Team Effort

What's made the difference in the trajectories of similarly-sized Midwest cities Detroit and Indianapolis? According to David Masciotra, cross-sector partnerships centered around sports entertainment have been the driving force behind Indy's success.

August 13, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

A Sunbaked New Mexico Hits its Boiling Point

Harsh climate and persistent drought have accelerated New Mexico's desertification over three years of record-breaking heat. With 87% of the Western U.S. experiencing a drought, is New Mexico the canary in the coal mine for an increasingly arid area?

August 12, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Light Pollution in Rural Virginia: A Photo Essay

The End of Night author Paul Bogard works with photography student Jennifer Tremblay to showcase light pollution in the Shenandoah Valley town of Harrisonburg.

August 11, 2013 - Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built + Natural Environments

Young and all people stroll at a community event in New York City.

Hipsters Flee as Invasion of the Baby Boomers Picks Up Speed

In the hip neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Seattle, and Denver, a silver tsunami is joining, and often forcing out, tattooed and mustachioed Millennials, as retiring Baby Boomers increasingly embrace urban living.

August 10, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

Willow Bend

Striving for Attainable Infill Housing in Arkansas

Willow Bend is a new, nonprofit development planned for an ecologically rich, 7.6-acre infill site in the Walker Park neighborhood of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The project is envisioned as a replicable model of sustainable and attainable housing.

August 9, 2013 - Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built + Natural Environments

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.