Illinois
Chicago Launches Loop Link BRT Service
Until this weekend, CTA buses in Downtown Chicago averaged a speed of 3 mph. The Loop Link is designed to improve those results.
A Call to Put Chicago in the Driver's Seat for North Lake Shore Drive Redesign
An op-ed calls for the Illinois Department of Transportation to end its car-friendly approach to the redesign of North Lake Shore Drive.
Chicago's Lawrence Avenue Is Changing—Is the Neighborhood Ready?
The Lawrence Avenue corridor in Chicago is poised to evolve into "New Lawrence," but as development proposals follow a streetscape improvement project, the community is still sorting out what exactly "new" should mean.
A Wake Up Call for Planning Commissioners
Planning commissioners play an essential role in monitoring issues and projects of critical importance to the welfare of entire neighborhoods and cities. Why then, do so many commissioners seem to be sleeping on the job?
Early Reviews Are In: Chicago's New Transit App Makes it Easy to Pay the Fare
The Ventra app hits the streets—or the tracks, perhaps—this week. Steven Vance of Streetsblog Chicago has already tested the new tool.
Chicago Tribune Finds Faults With City's Speed Camera Program
A special investigation by the Chicago Tribune finds inconsistencies and errors with the city's "'Children's Safety Zone" initiative, which places speed camera near schools and parks.
In Illinois: an Affordable Housing Board in Name Only
More evidence of the inability of the Illinois Housing Planning and Appeal Act to achieve its stated goals.
Explained: Bus-On-Shoulder Service
Allowing buses to drive on the shoulder of highways when traffic slows has been shown to increase ridership, thus proving an important point: people will ride transit when it's a reasonable option.
12 Maps to Explain the Midwest
Aaron Renn scours the Internet to find 12 maps that attempt to do the impossible: define the geographic and cultural expanse known as the American Midwest.
Editorial: Chicago's Lakefront Deserves Better than the Lucas Museum
To say that the Chicago Tribune editorial board is not a fan of George Lucas's proposal to build a museum along Lake Michigan would be putting it mildly.
The Death and Life of Evanston, Illinois
A comprehensive review of the inner-ring suburb of Evanston, Illinois, outside Chicago, and a transformation Jane Jacobs would surely love. The proof is in the pudding: Evanston car ownership are far below regional averages.
New Urbanism Earning New Fans in One Chicago Neighborhood
With statistics showing that fewer than half of Americans know their neighbors, bringing neighborliness to neighborhoods remains a challenge for urban planners.
Change Is Coming to Wrigleyville (Other Than Playoff Baseball)
The Wrigleyville neighborhood of Chicago will have a national audience this week for the first time since 2003. The neighborhood has changed, and is poised for even more change.
Chicago Rule Change Encourages Affordable Housing
This month, changes to Chicago's Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) will go into effect, raising the in-lieu fees developers must pay to opt out of building affordable units downtown.
Chicago Approves Big Expansion of TOD Ordinance
Ten times more land in Chicago is now designated for transit oriented development—affording new development reduced parking requirements, density bonuses for affordable housing, and new strength for the city's Pedestrian Street design regulations.
Can Reduced Parking Requirements Generate Too Much Development Competition?
A new argument has appeared in the ongoing debate about parking requirements. A university in a college town objected to reduced parking requirements on the grounds that it would make the city too attractive to developers.
Chicago's Food Carts Now Street Legal
An estimated 1,500 food carts were operating in the city of Chicago—mostly outside the law. The Chicago City Council this week passed a law that allows legitimate operations.
The Outsized Benefits of Transforming Parking Lots to TOD
Chicago's sale of three city-owned parking lots demonstrates how selling underused land for the purposes of transit-oriented development can benefit people and government.
Illinois DOT Head: System Is Stuck in the Past
Strong words from the head of the Illinois Department of Transportation, who says the state is planning for "yesterday's transportation system." Are we witnessing a sea change in leadership of transportation at the state level?
Meet Chicago's New Northerly Island Open Space
Chicago gains a new open space today, located on an island on Lake Michigan just across from Soldier Field and Burnham Harbor.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
