Illinois

Street Traffic

Call for Guardrails on Trucks to Protect Bike Riders

John Greenfield's Op-Ed calls for legislation to mandate safety guards on trucks operating in the city of Chicago.

October 6, 2016 - Chicago Reader

High Hopes for New Developments in the Chicago Neighborhood of Englewood

Chicago's Englewood neighborhood recently saw the opening of a Whole Foods, Starbucks, and other retailers in a bit of a good news, for a neighborhood that's challenged by low employment and high violence.

October 3, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

Ghost Bike

Commercial Vehicles Are No Match for Bike Safety

All six bicyclists killed in Chicago this year had something in common: commercial vehicles. Still missing from the discussion: what to do about it.

September 29, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

Cigarette Litter Beach

A Clever Way to End Cigarette Litter

Chicago smokers will soon be able to vote on matters of pop culture importance with their butts.

September 28, 2016 - Governing

Gas Pump

Unable or Unwilling to Hike Gas Taxes, Illinois and New Jersey Go to Voters

However, neither state will ask voters to increase the gas tax. Instead, they ask voters to assure that gas tax and other transportation-derived revenues are spent on transportation. Neither state has raised the tax in over 25 years.

September 27, 2016 - Governing

Black Lives Matter

Lessons of Housing Desegregation—From the 1960s to Today

The New York Times mines historic footage and current research for perspective on the effects of housing segregation.

September 20, 2016 - The New York Times

Chicago Bike Lane

The Business of Maintaining and Expanding Chicago's Bike Infrastructure

The Chicago Department of Transportation is busy with bike infrastructure projects around the city. Steven Vance updates the latest.

September 16, 2016 - Chi.Streetsblog

Fall Sprawl

If Housing Affordability Is Top Concern, Let Metro Regions Sprawl

Research from BuildZoom, a San Francisco-based contractors' website, shows that housing affordability increases with a region's ability to build outwards, as opposed to upwards. Densification largely has not accompanied efforts to curb sprawl.

September 16, 2016 - The Wall Street Journal

Chicago Argriculture

'Growing for Chicago' Wins Federal Grant to Explore Urban Agriculture Innovations

Growing for Chicago will use the $1 million Conservation Innovation Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to examine a "cohort-based" model for urban agriculture.

September 15, 2016 - The Architect's Newspaper

Empty Park

Rebuilding Civic Spaces: Going Small To Get Big Results

A $40 million investment is being split between four cities—Memphis, Chicago, Akron, and Detroit—with the hopes of making big impacts for the community by revitalizing and/or repurposing exiting civic spaces.

September 15, 2016 - CityLab

Argyle Street

Chicago's Shared Street Off to a Bumpy Start

The shared street concept is being tested in Chicago, with goals of spurring economic development, allowing new and flexible use of public spaces, and increasing pedestrian safety.

September 13, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

Chicago Spire

Signs of Life From Chicago's Failed Spire Project

Related Midwest, the current developer of the site of Santiago Caltrava's infamously failed Spire project, are finally making progress on the next iteration of plans for the site.

September 9, 2016 - The Architect's Newspaper

Chicago's South Side Gains New Bus Service

New and improved bus service launched on the South Side of Chicago over Labor Day weekend.

September 5, 2016 - Chi.Streetsblog

Amazon Warehouse

Chicago's Warehouse Building Boom

Online shopping and gentrification is fueling a bona fide building boom of warehouse spaces in Chicago.

August 30, 2016 - Crain's Chicago Business

Hurricane Katrina

Planetizen Week in Review: August 20, 2016

Climate change dominated the news this week, as flooding wreaked unfathomable havoc on the state of Louisiana.

August 20, 2016 - Planetizen

Chicago River

A Bold Plan to Swim in Chicago's Rivers by 2030

Chicago Mayor Rah Emanuel and the Metropolitan Planning Council announced the "Our Great Rivers" plan this week.

August 19, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

Chicago

Tax Increment Financing District Proposed for Chicago's Big Flyover Transit Project

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is looking for ways to raise local funds to help secure the federal funds necessary for the CTA's Red-Purple Bypass Project.

August 12, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

McDonald's

Big, Corporate 'Back to the City' Movement Continues

In the latest news, chemical company Chemours will remain in downtown Wilmington, Delaware's largest city. In June, McDonald's decamped from Chicago's suburbs for downtown. This latest corporate trend is the topic of a New York Times article.

August 3, 2016 - The New York Times

Crime Watch

Research Finds Strong Links Between Urban Characteristics and Local Drug Trade

New research has found a link between drug dealing and certain urban environments, which researchers believe can lead to better policing strategies.

August 2, 2016 - London School of Economics and Political Science American Politics and Policy Blog

Jefferson Park Chicago

South Side Location Selected for the Obama Library

The eagerly anticipated selection of the future site of the Obama Presidential Library has leaked to the press. A formal announcement is expected soon.

July 28, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

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.