Ohio

Midwest Passenger Rail Plan Advances

Ohio rail advocates received good news from the Federal Railroad Administration: The Buckeye State will be included in an FRA study to expand its now meager service, but support from Republican Gov. John Kasich is unlikely judging from his record.

September 2, 2015 - Dayton Daily News

Interviewed: Jerry Wray, Director of the Ohio Department of Transportation

Excerpts of an interview with Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jerry Wray, who spoke candidly about the state's role in maintaining and building transportation projects in Cincinnati and around the state of Ohio.

August 27, 2015 - Cincinnati Enquirer

Terms and Concepts for Understanding Land Banks

Clarifying some of the jargon that drives the land bank process in Cuyahoga County, Ohio reveals the importance and scale of neighborhood stabilization in some parts of the country.

August 21, 2015 - Cleveland.com

Vacant Properties Persist in Cuyahoga County—and Not Just in Cleveland

Cleveland.com provides in-depth analysis of the ongoing challenge to account for and improve the large number of vacant properties in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

August 15, 2015 - Cleveland.com

Google Celebrates the Birth of the Traffic Light

If you opened Google to do a search on Wednesday, you'd see an image (the "doodle") of a traffic light and six Model-T era cars spelling out the company's name. It was honoring the 101-year anniversary of the birth of the electric traffic light.

August 7, 2015 - Time

Study: Columbus Neighborhoods Still Surprisingly Suburban

Columbus is surprisingly suburban, given that the city is the largest in population in the state of Ohio. Maybe that perception comes from the fact that it’s also the largest in size in the state?

July 19, 2015 - The Columbus Dispatch

Backyard Pool

Doomed Suburbs

Alana Semuels describes the structural forces that had led Cincinnati's Lincoln Heights neighborhood to the brink of extinction.

July 15, 2015 - The Atlantic

Canton Creates Roadmap for Right-Sizing

In its first comprehensive plan since the 1960s, Canton, Ohio, is setting a bold new course that could influence planning in hundreds of small and mid-sized American cities with weak real estate markets.

July 7, 2015 - The Canton Repository

An In-Depth Look at One of America's Preeminent Landscape Architects

The Atlantic's Eric Jaffe centers on James Corner's latest work in Cleveland's Public Square, and goes to describe his other well-known projects, including the High Line, and transformations of public parks and urban spaces throughout the country.

June 29, 2015 - The Atlantic Magazine

Drinking and Peddling Is Legal in Cincinnati (Yes, There's a Catch)

Drinking and riding isn't legal for everyone—but it is legal on a vehicle known as the Pedal Wagon, which seats 15 people around a mobile bar, thanks to a new state law.

June 27, 2015 - Cincinnati Business Courier

Confederate Flag Debate Spreading to Federal Transportation Funding

An Ohio Senator hopes to use the transportation reauthorization bill to motivate states that issue license plates bearing the Confederate flag to remove them. A week ago the Supreme Court ruled states can do so without violating the first amendment.

June 26, 2015 - Cincinnati Enquirer

Cleveland Clears the Way for its First Parklet

Cleveland will soon have its first park let—thanks to the leadership of the nonprofit Historic Gateway Neighborhood Corp., the collective generosity of Cleveland Collectivo and more, and the approval of the Cleveland Planning Commission.

June 23, 2015 - The Plain Dealer

Congressional Hearing Addresses Transportation Funding Problem

Transportation for America recaps the first meeting in three years by the House Ways and Means Committee to address transportation funding. Chairman Paul Ryan decried the $63 billion bailout of the Highway Trust Fund but ruled out a gas tax hike.

June 21, 2015 - T4America Blog

'Funding Drought' Declared Over for Economic Development in Cincinnati

A year after Ohio community development groups received $0 in New Market Tax Credits for the first time ever, the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. is ready to declare the end of the funding drought.

June 17, 2015 - Cincinnati Business Courier

The Anatomy of Cincinnati's $1 Billion Highway Project

The Cincinnati State viaduct, as Urban Cincy calls the project, would reconstruct a series of ramps and interchanges where I-74 and I-75 meet near Mill Creek.

June 11, 2015 - UrbanCincy

Youngstown, Ohio

Youngstown: Another Downtown Revitalizes

Earning negative press as a put-America-back-to-work campaign stop, the Ohio city also suffered from reported connections to crime. Now private developers are working alongside Youngstown State to bring people back.

June 11, 2015 - New York Times

Questions About Operations of Cincinnati's Streetcar Still Need to Be Answered

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) has been busy negotiating with bidders regarding the potential operations of the forthcoming Cincinnati streetcar.

June 8, 2015 - Cincinnati Business Courier

US Highway 23 in Ohio

Ohio's Experiment in Public-Private Partnership Just Tripled in Cost

The Portsmouth Bypass will provide Ohio's first test case of public-private partnership on a major transportation project. As such, the news about the project's ballooning costs could have been better.

May 26, 2015 - The Columbus Dispatch

Cincinnati Moves Mountains for a New Corporate Campus

The $100 million investment by Medpace CEO Dr. August Troendle will add a new hotel in addition to office and commercial space to the neighborhood of Madisonville. The deal that enables the project involves a lot of moving parts.

May 13, 2015 - Cincinnati Enquirer

Protected Bike Lane Added to Cleveland's 'Opportunity Corridor' Mix

Few planning efforts in the country have provoked as much commentary and criticism as Cleveland's $330 million Opportunity Corridor. The city recently pushed for more improvements, and the state seems receptive.

April 29, 2015 - The Plain Dealer

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.

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.