Massachusetts

Feather River Dam

Hydropower Pipeline Rejected By Maine Voters

Maine voters overwhelmingly supported a ballot measure that will halt construction on a hydroelectric transmission line that Massachusetts claims would reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.

November 7, 2021 - CommonWealth Magazine

Bunker Hill, Charlestown

Boston City Council Approves Maximum Parking Ratios

An innovative set of zoning reforms have two more approvals left to become law.

November 1, 2021 - Streetsblog Mass

Boston

Boston Introduces 'Maximum Parking Ratios' for Large Buildings

Large buildings with uses of all kinds will be subject to Boston's new "Maximum Parking Ratios."

October 14, 2021 - Streetsblog Mass

An image of a bridge in Vermont with a sign in front of it announcing a COVID-19 quarantine order.

Boosters and Breakthroughs in Vermont

The most vaccinated state in the U.S. may tell us where the future of the country is headed in the war against the coronavirus. Could it become a 'pandemic of the vaccinated'?

October 4, 2021 - WPTZ

Boston Aerial

Big Boston Buildings Must Be Carbon Neutral by 2050

The Boston City Council approved a new ordinance would eliminate emissions from the 4 percent of the buildings responsible for 60 percent of the city's building emissions.

October 4, 2021 - Smart Cities Dive

New Orleans Freeway

Outdated State and Federal Road Design Rules Hinder Freeway Removal

Although some cities are in favor of removing or reducing urban freeways in favor of more walkable spaces, guidelines like the 11-year-old MUTCD still encourage a 'throughput at all costs' mentality.

October 1, 2021 - Governing

A fence shows a walkway to the beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Proposed Law Would Open Beach Access in Massachusetts

It's harder to access the ocean in Massachusetts than any other coastal state in the country, but that could soon change.

September 29, 2021 - The Boston Globe

New York MTA Bus

How Free Fares Could Benefit Bus Drivers

Free transit would reduce boarding times and improve working conditions for bus drivers, the 'frontline workers' responsible for fare collection and enforcement.

September 14, 2021 - NextCity

A map of the Boston harbor with locations highlighted that will be vulnerable to sea-level rise.

Boston to Leverage Private Developers for a New Climate Resiliency Fund

It's going to take a lot of funding to build the infrastructure to protect coastal cities from rising seas as climate change takes hold. The city of Boston is starting to experiment with revenue sources that can fund the necessary improvements.

September 10, 2021 - The Boston Globe

Boston Aerial

Acting Mayor Pulls Boston's Downtown Harbor Plan

Intrigue continues for waterfront development plans in Boston and nearby cities.

September 5, 2021 - The Boston Globe

Zakim Bridge and Tobin Bridge

Post-Pandemic Traffic: Easier Morning Commutes, Heading for Afternoon 'Peak Spreading'

The Boston Globe recently published an analysis of Boston-area traffic through the pandemic, finding that congestion is finally recovering to pre-pandemic levels, but in new patterns.

August 15, 2021 - The Boston Globe

Coronavirus Testing

COVID-19, AIDS, and CDC Guidance

Music critic Joel Rozen pens a unique perspective for Slate's "Coronavirus Diaries" on the Provincetown, Massachusetts cluster that prompted the CDC on July 27 to reverse its masking guidance for the fully vaccinated issued a month earlier.

August 10, 2021 - Slate

Masked Passengers at Rainway Station

Delta Variant's High Transmissibility Prompts CDC to Issue Masking Correction

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, acting on new data that it had yet to publish, changed its masking guidance on July 27 to reflect the prevalence of the virus in specific counties rather than basing it on a person's vaccination status.

August 2, 2021 - The Washington Post

Place It Workshop

Community Land Trusts: Combining Scale and Community Control

Pitting the straw men of scale and community control against one another does the field more harm than good.

July 28, 2021 - Shelterforce

Empty Homes

Defining the 'Community' in Community Land Trusts

As community land trusts take root and expand, they face numerous questions on how to stay communally-focused while their geographic scope grows.

July 28, 2021 - Shelterforce

1719 house in Salem, Massachusetts

Greater Boston Considers Relaxing ADU Rules as Housing Shortage Deepens

Cities in the region want to increase flexibility for homeowners who want to build 'granny flats' on their property.

July 27, 2021 - Boston Globe

Pedestrian Bridge

MassDOT Seeking Funding for Bike-Pedestrian Bridge, Bus Lanes, and Policing

The commonwealth of Massachusetts is seeking federal funding for several high-profile projects.

July 26, 2021 - Streetsblog Massachusetts

Amtrak Pennsylvanian

Northeast Corridor Improvement Plan Would Speed Up Rail Connections

The proposal would fund over 150 projects aimed at improving passenger rail service and speeding up travel times.

July 26, 2021 - Bloomberg CityLab

Affordable housing

What Will Cambridge's New Affordable Housing Overlay Do?

The policy is aimed at reducing the cost of building affordable housing and helping affordable housing developers to better compete on property acquisitions.

July 18, 2021 - Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University

Washington D.C. COnstruction

Opinion: Massachusetts Should Prioritize 'Shovel-Worthy' Projects

When distributing new federal funding, state leaders should ensure that selected projects are aligned with the state's climate resilience goals.

July 14, 2021 - CommonWealth Magazine

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.

Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

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.