New York

New York's Unique Storefronts

How to Be A Retronaut features a smattering of photos of New York's unique storefronts, taken by photographers James and Karla Murray. Since the book's release, about a third of the stores have faded from existence.

May 16, 2011 - How to Be a Retronaut

The Spectre of Death and Speeding

New speed limit signs will alert drivers that they are going to fast by showing them an image of a skeleton -- an image intended to warn drivers that their speeding could kill.

May 16, 2011 - Transportation Nation

Translating New York City to 1920s Small Town America

In the 1920s, when the concept of a big city like New York was still new to many Americans, one newspaper columnist brought the city to small town America.

May 15, 2011 - Smithsonian

Family Structure Shifts in New York City

Family makeup is changing in New York City, where unmarried partners are on the rise and households with children are on the decline.

May 15, 2011 - The New York Times

Overflow Plant Aims to Reduce Sewage Contamination

A new sewage plant has opened in New York that hopes to reduce the amount of sewage overflow when storms overwhelm the city's combined sewage and stormwater system.

May 14, 2011 - The New York Times

NYC Streets Transformation a Cause for Celebration

A number of articles have recently been written criticizing New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan for dramatically changing the city's mobility. This column from Metropolis says that criticism is misdirected.

May 14, 2011 - Metropolis

Revitalizing Buffalo's Waterfront

Buffalo, New York is restoring portions of its historic waterfront into a 2-acre, walkable, mixed-use neighborhood.

May 12, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

Effort to "Green" the Empire State Building Paying Off

A $550 million plan to retrofit the Empire State Building pays off by attracting a new high-profile tenant, the social networking giant LinkedIn.com.

May 12, 2011 - Sustainable Cities Collective

Buffalo's Plan to Become "the Berkeley of New York"

Once the 8th largest city in the United States, Buffalo, NY is now ranked 70th (with 261,000 residents). After several failed attempts at urban renewal, the city leadership is trying a new approach - namely, to recast Buffalo as a college town.

May 10, 2011 - The New York Times

Seeking Suburbia's Future in Its Past

A group of urban designers and architects descends on the ur-suburbia of Levittown. Alison Arieff writes that the urban academics doodled in the margins rather than serious tackle the issues raised by the suburban way of life.

May 9, 2011 - The New York Times

Controlling New York City's Traffic

Urban Omnibus ventures into the New York City Department of Transportation's Traffic Management Center to find out how technology is changing the way the city manages its traffic signals and traffic flows.

May 7, 2011 - Urban Omnibus

The Warhol Community

In comparing the legacies of artist Andy Warhol and urban thinker Jane Jacobs, this essay suggests that the sort of urban community we think of today is more a result of Warhol.

May 6, 2011 - Places

A Transportation Census That Really Counts

New York City has created its own version of the census to track transportation in the city, a job it says the federal government's counting system does poorly.

May 4, 2011 - The New York Times

In Manhattan, Shopping and Driving Don't Mix

The New York City Department of Transportation's yearly statistical smorgasbord adds a new tool: neighborhood travel profiles showing how people arrived in eight neighborhoods. In many of them, the number of drivers was in the single digits.

May 3, 2011 - Streetsblog

Developer: I've Walked Away From Projects Because of Parking Minimums

Why is it so hard to build in New York City? Why are rents so expensive? It's partly because parking requirement are so onerous that developers are doing everything they can to avoid them, writes Noah Kazis.

April 29, 2011 - Streetsblog

Remaking a Suburb into as Small Business Hub

Levittown is the quintessential American suburb. A new proposal seeks to reinvent it as a hub for small businesses.

April 28, 2011 - Fast Co. Design

Looking at Olmsted and His Legacy

A new television documentary on Frederick Law Olmsted looks at the legacy of his Central Park and the sometimes serendipitous way he was able to leave an impact on the urban landscape of the U.S.

April 22, 2011 - The New York Times

Debate Over New Condos, Hotel in Brooklyn Bridge Park

The plans for the newly-opened Brooklyn Bridge Park included a 150-room hotel and two 30-story to 40-story condos buildings, which planners say were necessary to make the project pencil out. As construction nears, some locals are upset at the plans.

April 19, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

The Original Green: New York's Street Grid

The original layout of New York's street grid took advantage of the natural elements like light, wind and good soil to effectively encourage greenery in the city. Alec Applebaum says the city could do well to hearken back to the original plans.

April 18, 2011 - The New York Times

Breathing Better In NY's Pedestrian Plazas

Manhattan's pedestrian plaza's are associated with increasing vitality, reducing congestion, and now this new study shows, improving air quality be reducing concentrations of nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2)

April 16, 2011 - Gothamist

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.