United States

Walkable Street

New York Continues to Dominate the Walk Score Rankings

It's almost as if every city not named New York is competing for second place when Walk Score releases its annual ranking of most walkable cities. Of course, the top ten is quite an accomplishment: so welcome to the club, Long Beach, California.

May 4, 2016 - Redfin

Oil Rigs

Report Details Strategies for Energy States to Weather Booms and Busts

Some states relied more on the most recent energy boom than others, and some prepared more for the inevitable bust. A report by the Brookings Institution recommends actions for energy states to build resilience in the face of boom and bust cycles.

May 4, 2016 - Governing

Jane Jacobs

Happy 100th Birthday, Jane Jacobs

Today would have been Jane Jacobs's 100th birthday. Here are a few recommended reads to help commemorate the occasion.

May 4, 2016 - Strong Towns

The Mission Mural Gentrification

Helping Beloved Non-Landmarks Weather Gentrification in San Francisco

San Francisco is starting a program to recognize and protect long-standing local businesses based on their community value, not architectural significance.

May 3, 2016 - New York Daily News

Pollution 2

The Path to Success for an Effective Carbon Tax

A Vox explainer describes the complex political, economic, and cultural obstacles to overcome in achieving a carbon tax equal to the social cost of carbon.

May 3, 2016 - Vox

Drinking Water

Mayoral Survey Reveals Deep Anxiety Over Infrastructure

The headline from Politico's recent survey of mayors says it all: mayors fear that there will be more public health disasters like Flint to come if the nation doesn't coordinate to prioritize infrastructure.

May 2, 2016 - Politico Magazine

Parking

Parking Benefit Districts Around the U.S.

As Pittsburgh moves forward on a parking management program to fund neighborhood improvements, take a look at how other cities have adapted this Shoup-inspired redevelopment strategy.

May 2, 2016 - Keystone Crossroads

Toll Road Truck

Toll Rates at Center of Controversy in Public-Private Partnership in Virginia

Elizabeth River Tunnels, a complex project involving a new tunnel, rehabilitating two existing tunnels, and extending an expressway, is financed by a public-private partnership that includes tolls that Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) called "exorbitant."

May 2, 2016 - PBS NewsHour

United States from Space

DataUSA: An Intuitive Tool for Public Data

A collaboration between Deloitte, Datawheel, and MIT has produced an intuitive aesthetically-pleasing gathering point for public data in the United States. Specific locations and industries boast easy-to-read profiles.

May 2, 2016 - CityLab

Denver TOD

3 Examples of Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing Policies

Mobility Lab tackles the challenges of building affordable housing near transit (i.e., transit-oriented affordable housing) by providing specific, real-world examples from cities and states.

May 2, 2016 - Mobility Lab

Woman Computer

Four Steps to Enhanced Crowdsourcing

The second "Empowered Design, By 'the Crowd'" article offers insight into making the most out of new crowdsourcing resources.

May 2, 2016 - Kendra L. Smith and Lindsey Collins

Tampa Skyline

'Normal America' According to Demographics

The common perception of everyday America as a land of small towns and white faces doesn't reflect the current reality. Demographic analysis reveals "normal America" in cities like New Haven and Tampa.

May 1, 2016 - FiveThirtyEight

Carfree Freeway

Righting Old Wrongs: U.S. DOT Goes from Urban Renewal to Freeway Removal

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx sees rebuilding America's ailing infrastructure as an opportunity to "right past wrongs," particularly with 1950s and 1960s-era freeways that bisected communities. NPR and Streetsblog describe the new initiative.

April 30, 2016 - NPR

Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta

Environmentalist Alarmed Over California-Focused Federal Water Legislation

An op-ed argues that instead of building a more resilient and sustainable water supply infrastructure, two water bills before congress would rollback exiting environmental protections.

April 29, 2016 - Los Angeles Times

High Line with Denari

Don't Forget the Neighborhoods Zoning Reform Leaves Behind

While urbanists target zoning reform to help build more housing in desirable neighborhoods, other neighborhoods around cities are being left behind to languish, according to this opinion piece published by Forbes.

April 29, 2016 - Forbes

Modern high speed bullet train in China

The Pop Culture Verdict: Transit Is Hip

Several decades ago, public transit was a distinctly low-quality way of getting around. Now, if we can believe TV and movies depicting the near future, all that has changed. Transit has become aspirational.

April 29, 2016 - Governing

Barcelona Bikeshare

Report: Bikeshare Makes Biking Safer

In the United States, not a single bikeshare rider has died in an accident so far. A report from the Mineta Transportation Institute considers why bikeshare may be safer than conventional biking.

April 29, 2016 - Vox

Phoenix is Crane City

Op-Ed: Investing in Cities Could Cure 'Short-Termism'

Bruce Katz argues that federal investment in urban areas fosters a public/private ecosystem that can prioritize long-term thinking, minimizing the "short-termism" endemic to corporations and governments acting alone.

April 28, 2016 - Brookings

Trees

What's a Tree Worth?

The U.S. Forest Service has continued to refine the valuable i-Tree software program, which allows cities to calculate the benefits, in dollar figures, of the urban forest.

April 28, 2016 - CityLab

Greenwich Village

New Storefront Index Reveals Evidence of Jacobs's 'Sidewalk Ballet'

City Observatory illustrates a key contributor to a vibrant urban environment by mapping all of the businesses in the urban cores of the nation's 51 largest cities.

April 28, 2016 - City Observatory

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.

Associate/Senior Planner

Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development

Senior Planner

Heyer Gruel & Associates PA

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.