New York

'Urban Reviewer' Archives New York City's 155 Neighborhood Master Plans

The 596 Acres project to catalogue and improve vacant, publicly owned lots in New York City produced another great tool called the Urban Reviewer, which gathers all of New York's adopted neighborhood master plans in one place.

June 25, 2014 - CityLab

Board Passes on Rent Freeze Despite Mayor de Blasio's Intentions

The New York City Rent Guidelines Board is one of the few ways Mayor Bill de Blasio can influence the price of housing in the city. All sides came away wanting when the board approved a historically low increase.

June 24, 2014 - New York Times

Re-Evaluating the Dynamic Duo: Olmsted and Moses

Anthony Flint examines the commonalities—and disparities—in the historic legacies of Frederick Law Olmsted and Robert Moses.

June 24, 2014 - CityLab

Affordable housing

The Limitations of Inclusionary Zoning Explained

Josh Barro examines the possible use of inclusionary zoning to generate affordable housing stock in the city of New York City finding that the only way to build more affordable units is by increasing density.

June 22, 2014 - New York Times

Vision Zero: New York to Lower Speed Limits

In a significant advancement in New York City mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to eliminate vehicle fatalities in the city, the New York State Assembly voted to allow a citywide change in the speed limit—from 30 to 25 miles per hour.

June 21, 2014 - New York Times

Friday Funny: How Automatic Toll Technology Could Have Saved Sonny Corleone

In a fake editorial on the satirical site The Onion, Charles J. Galvin, CEO, E-ZPass Group, pays homage to the alternative path the Corleone family would have taken in The Godfather if only Sonny Corleone had been driving a car equipped with E-ZPass.

June 20, 2014 - The Onion

Vacant Properties Linger Post-Sandy in Queens and Rockaway

Still plagued by home left vacant after Hurricane Sandy, a politician and local activists are pushing for greater action to clean up the blighted properties.

June 19, 2014 - The Yeshiva World News

Hearst Tower Norman Foster

In the Era of Starchitecture, Whither 'Locatecture'?

Witold Rybczynski laments the globalization of architecture—especially the personal branding of the most famous architects onto the skylines of cities all over the world.

June 17, 2014 - New York Times Magazine

Buffalo Rebooting its Code

Buffalo is nearing the finish line in an efforts to draft a new form-based code.

June 17, 2014 - Congress for the New Urbanism

Personal Air Quality Sensors Compare Pollution Levels

Ben Schiller reports on two new air quality sensors that show you pollution comparisons of the air you are breathing right now.

June 15, 2014 - FastCompany Exist

Artists Feel Gentrification Pressure in Bushwick

The Brooklyn Brief attended the recent eighth edition oft the Bushwick Open Studios annual art event. There the blog heard from artists concerned about the growing expenses of living in the neighborhood.

June 14, 2014 - Brooklyn Brief

Texas State Capitol building

The End of 'Slackerdom' in Austin (or Pittsburgh Rich vs. New York Poor)

Yes, that's a lot of cities in one headline. But recent urbanism media has included a lot of writers lamenting the rising cost of living in formerly bohemian locales while noticing former bohemians moving to more affordable regions.

June 12, 2014 - Austin American-Statesman

'Rebuild by Design' Winners Announced for New York and New Jersey Resilience

HUD announced the winners of the Rebuild by Design competition yesterday, awarding $920 million to six projects in New York and New Jersey. $335 million will go toward the first phase of a 10-mile protective barrier for Manhattan.

June 3, 2014 - Next City

Long Commutes Pose Additional Risks for Students in New York City

A recent study shows significant variation in commute times for students depending on where they live in New York City. The concern with the findings is that longer commute times have greater impacts on students already facing other obstacles.

June 2, 2014 - Chalkbeat New York

Minneapolis and New York City Top 2014 ParkScore Ratings

The third annual rating of cities ranks the access, size, and spending of parks in the 60 largest cities in the country.

June 2, 2014 - The Trust for Public Land

Should NYC's Community Boards Have Term Limits?

Keith Williams reports on the longevity of some members of community boards in New York City. Critics say that the review capacity of the boards would best be served by increased turnover in membership.

June 2, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

How Street Performances Transform Public Spaces

A busking advocate blogs about the benefits of street performances in public spaces and the need to revisit street performance licenses and requirements.

June 1, 2014 - Project for Public Spaces blog

De Blasio Moving Forward with New York City's Largest Housing Development in Three Decades

Although the Hunter's Point South was a Bloomberg-era proposal, the de Blasio Administration last week released an RFP for $100 million in construction to build the infrastructure and public amenities necessary to support the project.

May 30, 2014 - Crain's Business New York

Friday Eye Candy: Seven Maps of the NYC Subway

The modernist designer Massimo Vignelli, who created the 1972 version of the New York City Subway map, passed away this week at 83.

May 30, 2014 - Next City

New York Bike Lane

How Bikes are Changing the Map of New York City

For New York City's bikers, new bicycle infrastructure has shortened distances between transit stops and raised the value of rentals in out of the way corners of the city.

May 28, 2014 - New York Times

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.