California

Los Angeles Downtown River

'Economic Development 2.0': California’s Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts

Since the dissolution of California's redevelopment agencies, the state has been fine-tuning a new and improved economic development tool: Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts.

May 2, 2016 - The Planning Report

Granny Flats a Symptom of L.A.'s 'Broken' Planning Process

Building permits for Accessory Dwelling Units have been stopped by court order in Los Angeles.

May 1, 2016 - The Planning Report

Family Parking

Parking Reform in San Diego Starts in the Neighborhoods

Citizens and businesses owners are actively involved in modernizing parking policies and assets in San Diego in a district by district approach, writes San Diego parking guru Bill Keller.

May 1, 2016 - UrbDeZine

Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta

Environmentalist Alarmed Over California-Focused Federal Water Legislation

An op-ed argues that instead of building a more resilient and sustainable water supply infrastructure, two water bills before congress would rollback exiting environmental protections.

April 29, 2016 - Los Angeles Times

Experts Weigh in on Decision to Move California to VMT as Metric for Impacts

In a significant effort to shift from sprawl toward incentivizing low-carbon transportation options, California is revising the way it measures traffic impacts of development projects under its Environmental Quality Act.

April 29, 2016 - The Planning Report

San Francisco Parking

San Francisco Rethinks the Costs of Parking

The debate over the impacts of parking isn't new, but San Francisco planners are hoping that their approach to parking will provide new mobility solutions in a growing city.

April 28, 2016 - San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority

D.C. Metro

The Root Causes of the D.C. Metro Crisis

The 40-year-old system, second busiest in the nation after New York's, has seen ridership decline since 2010 as the region grows. A major cause is "frequency delays." The Washington Post reporters state that the subway has entered a death spiral.

April 28, 2016 - The Washington Post

Santa Monica Bay

Los Angeles Reaps the Benefits of Restoring the Santa Monica Bay

Los Angeles has made major progress in restoring the Santa Monica Bay. Now, The Bay Foundation's Tom Ford sees opportunities for L.A. to capitalize on its natural resources.

April 28, 2016 - The Planning Report

Facadism

Esoteric No More: Facadism Explained

Facadism is a critical concept for evaluating projects that rehabilitate, renovate, or redevelop historic structures—but it's often considered too esoteric for conversation. It's time we all got on the same page.

April 28, 2016 - San Francisco Chronicle

Office Park

High Tech Embraces Suburban-Style Office Park Thinking

Critics claim tech companies such as Apple and Google are guilty of repeating past mistakes of urban development by creating suburban campuses that isolate themselves from the surrounding community.

April 26, 2016 - Collectors Weekly

Seattle Housing Prices Starting to Look Like San Francisco

Seattle's housing prices have ballooned on a level comparable to San Francisco, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal.

April 26, 2016 - The Wall Street Journal

Coffee Shop with Books

Where Have All the Writers Gone?

Aaron Renn identifies the negative effects of ongoing concentration of media professionals of the "writer" variety in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

April 24, 2016 - The Urbanophile

Eviction

Oakland Approves 90-Day Moratorium on Evictions

Taking steps to prevent Oakland from becoming the next San Francisco, the East Bay city passed a 90-day moratorium on certain kinds of evictions.

April 22, 2016 - The Guardian

How Bay Area Cities Are Dealing with the Housing Crunch

A booming-once-again tech sector and a rapidly increasing population in the Bay Area are aggravating a historically tight housing market. Preservation architect Jerri Holan looks at how Bay Area cities are dealing with the housing crunch.

April 22, 2016 - UrbDeZine

Artists Plan a Mini Golf Course to Teach About Zoning and Gentrification

An art installation called "The Back 9" is planned for Los Angeles' Skid Row to tackle the issues of gentrification, zoning, and back room deals for development rights.

April 21, 2016 - CityLab

VTA Bus

Silicon Valley Preparing for Switch to a High Frequency Bus Grid

A Silicon Valley columnist debates the tough political questions inherent to the process of redesigning local bus service.

April 21, 2016 - San Jose Mercury News

San Francisco Street

Anatomy of a San Francisco YIMBY

The New York Times provides an in-depth exploration of the politics and personalities behind the YIMBY organization known as the SF Bay Area Renters' Federation (BARF).

April 20, 2016 - The New York Times

San Francisco MUNI

Latest 'Muni Forward' Changes Mean Route Changes, Frequency Improvements

Muni will soon launch the fourth phase of improvement to San Francisco's transit system.

April 18, 2016 - San Francisco Examiner

Expo Line LA Skyline

Los Angeles Looking for New Planners, New Community Plans

Mayor Eric Garcetti has announced his commitment to the planning process in Los Angeles by proposing a program that would hire new planners and launch new planning efforts at the community level.

April 18, 2016 - KPCC

A Watershed Moment for Ferries in the San Francisco Bay Area

With BART showing its age and struggling to meet growing demand, water-borne vehicles a potential panacea for transit in the San Francisco Bay Area?

April 17, 2016 - KQED

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.