United States

East Coast Prepares to Launch Road Usage Charge 'Mini' Pilot

Delaware and Pennsylvania will join a small, select number of western states that have explored technology to charge drivers by the miles they drive, not the fuel they burn, to fill their transportation budgets in lieu of fuel taxes.

August 9, 2017 - WTOP

Construction Worker

Construction Worker Shortage Blamed for Housing Supply Woes

Zoning and red tape gets a bad wrap in arguments that blame the housing crisis on a lack of housing supply. Another narrative credits a shortage of construction workers on the lack of housing supply in the country.

August 9, 2017 - The Wall Street Journal

New York City Zoning Map

Zoning's Role in Segregation

An editorial in the New York Times argues that exclusionary zoning reinforces segregation and must be curbed.

August 8, 2017 - The New York Times

Integration

What Does 'Gentrification' Really Mean?

No two people seem to quite agree on what the word "gentrification" means. If you're at all interested in what shapes our cities, you're bound to find yourself in a conversation about gentrification eventually—and you might find yourself in a fight.

August 7, 2017 - Modern Cities

Natural Gas

Appeals Court Deals Second Setback to Trump Administration on Methane Regulation

Another unpleasant reminder for the Trump Administration that there are three equal branches of government: A federal appeals court ruled 9-2 that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt must enforce a rule to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas wells.

August 7, 2017 - CNN Politics

Homeless Bans

California Cities Continue to Criminalize Homelessness with RV Bans

Coastal cities are taking a no-tolerance approach to RVs on their streets, even as they otherwise strive to mitigate and prevent homelessness.

August 7, 2017 - Pacific Standard

Cars

Another Month, Another Mileage Record Set

Americans preference to travel in their own personal vehicles shows no signs of abating, reflected by May mileage data, the most recent compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, indicating a 2.2 percent increase compared with May 2016.

August 7, 2017 - Planetizen

Congestion versus mobility

Planning for the Rich by the Rich

Decision makers in cities can mistake their own preferences for the preferences of the city as a whole, which is doubly dangerous when elite preferences become the law of the land.

August 7, 2017 - Human Transit

Seattle Light Rail

Feds Removing Regulatory Roadblocks for Private Investments in Public Transit

A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) announced by the Federal Transit Administration is designed to further the Trump Administration's goals to empower the private sector to rebuild the nation's infrastructure.

August 7, 2017 - Federal Transit Administration

U.S. Steel Plant

An Ambitious Plan for New Housing on Chicago's South Side

A South Chicago neighborhood will get 20,000 new residential units if a plan goes through.

August 5, 2017 - Chicago Tribune

Condos Smart Growth

Novel Solutions for Affordable Housing

The housing crisis calls for creative solutions.

August 5, 2017 - Curbed

City Hall

Impacts of AVs and E-Commerce on Municipal Budgets

A new report from Urbanism Next/SCI takes you through a city’s budget—both revenues and expenditures—and describes the areas that will be affected as AVs become commonplace and e-commerce takes on an even larger role in retail

August 4, 2017 - Urbanism Next

Eating and Driving

Friday Funny: Sarcastic Responses to Honolulu's 'Distracted Walking' Ban

The Onion's always-sardonic "American Voices" feature allows some totally fake people to respond to Honolulu's recent decision to make it illegal to text while crossing the street on foot.

August 4, 2017 - The Onion

Los Angeles in 1939, as determined by the  Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC).

New Mapping Tool Illuminates the Consequences of Redlining

According to Next City, a new mapping tool from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition reveals the roots of gentrification in addition to making stark a history of discrimination.

August 4, 2017 - Next City

Amtrak Pennsylvanian

Lyft Partnering With Amtrak for First-Last Mile Connections

Amtrak is partnering with Lyft to offer train passengers a discounted option for first and last mile needs. New Lyft riders qualify for a $5 savings on each of their first four rides.

August 3, 2017 - The Verge

Fort McMurray Fire

What Goes Together? Sprawl and Destructive Wildfires

Wildfires tend to start at the Wildland-Urban Interface: those border zones between cities and the open land surrounding them. Keeping the lid on sprawl, it can be argued, would tame the inferno.

August 3, 2017 - Wired

Arizona Suburb

On Poverty's New Suburban Look

Author Scott Allard debunks lingering myths about how people experience poverty in cities. Poverty's suburbanization, he argues, has more to do with the loss of jobs than migration from "inner cities."

August 3, 2017 - CityLab

Chevy Bolt

Are Reports Predicting a Future of Electric Vehicles Exaggerated?

David Yager, an oil industry consultant, writes that recent reports predicting electric vehicles will eventually outsell those with internal combustion engines are vastly exaggerated, notwithstanding national bans on future sales of such cars.

August 3, 2017 - Business Insider

Olympic Stadium

Quebec Olympic Stadium Now a Shelter for Asylum Seekers from the U.S.

The government of Canada is scrambling to build a policy in response to growing numbers of asylum seekers crossing the border between the United States and Canada.

August 3, 2017 - The Globe and Mail

Imperial Beach Border

Department of Homeland Security Will Skip Environmental Review for the Border Wall

Also, the House of Representatives has approved the funding president trump wants for the wall, but the Senate is likely to balk.

August 2, 2017 - Associated Press via Denver Post

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

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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.