United States

Pothole

Cities See the Light at the End of the Fiscal Tunnel

The "City Fiscal Conditions 2016" report by the National League of Cities is willing to allow new levels of optimism.

October 20, 2016 - Governing

Houston Light Rail

Moving from Moving Cars to Moving People

After a three quarters of a century of building to accommodate cars and not people, it's going to take big changes to get the transit system the United States needs, argues a Next City editorial.

October 20, 2016 - Next City

Google Maps

Google Maps' 'Interesting' New Feature

Google's new maps redesign calls out areas of interest, but is "interesting" just a euphemism for rich?

October 20, 2016 - City Observatory

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

Mapping the Racist History of Real Estate in New Deal America

The Mapping Inequality website documents how the liberal ideals of the New Deal devolved into discrimination and inequality.

October 20, 2016 - National Geographic

St. Louis

Historic Missouri-Illinois Bridge Completes Rehabilitation Funded by Recovery Act

Remember President Obama's 2009 economic stimulus program? Add another completed project to the program's successes: the restoration of the multi-modal 1874 iconic Eads Bridge connecting St. Louis and East St. Louis, Ill. over the Mississippi River.

October 19, 2016 - AASHTO Journal

Road Construction

Debate: Growing the Economy From the Supply Side

Two economists discuss how specific kinds of deregulation could speed up growth. They emphasize planning issues: local overregulation of development and the high cost of infrastructure, among others.

October 19, 2016 - Bloomberg View

Townhouses

Denser, More Urban Suburbs

Social changes in America relating to work, demographics and the family are changing the face of suburbs around the US.

October 19, 2016 - Curbed

Bike Box

Feds Finally Onboard With Bike Boxes

The federal government officially downgraded the safety risk of installing bike boxes at intersections.

October 18, 2016 - Streetsblog USA

Replicas of Mid-Century Towns Built to Aid the Memories of Alzheimer's Patients

The Glenner Town Square development in Chula Vista, California will be one of the first "immersive facilities" in the United States, designed to trigger memories for Alzheimer's patients.

October 17, 2016 - CityLab

Global Agreement Reached to Limit 'Super Greenhouse Gas Emissions'

An historic agreement reached by 170 global leaders in Kigali, Rwanda on October 15 to limit hydrofluorocarbons could have more of an impact on reducing climate change than the carbon emission agreement reached in Paris ten days earlier.

October 17, 2016 - The New York Times

Metro Paris

Comparing Transit Systems and Populations for 13 Worldwide Cities

A new study compares regional population densities to transit systems to find out which transit systems have maximized their reach.

October 16, 2016 - CityLab

Tracking the Growth of the 'Gig Economy' in U.S. Cities

The Brookings Institute thinks it has found a way to measure the impact of the expanding 'gig economy'—i.e., freelancing work enabled by online platforms like Airbnb and Uber.

October 16, 2016 - Brookings

Single-Family Homes

Where Are the Latino Home Owners?

In the United States, rates of homeownership among Latino families lag far behind those of white families. A recent article from the Urban Institute digs into the causes and effects of this issue.

October 15, 2016 - Urban Institute

An image of a path through sand dunes to ocean in New Jersey

Calling for an End to Federal Support for Beach Nourishment

In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, a researcher calls attention to the method behind the federal spending on billions of dollars of investment in unsustainable beaches.

October 15, 2016 - The New York Times

Blight Demolition

The Dangers of Demolition for Its Own Sake

Jason Hackworth argues that demolition has come to be seen as a good, in and of itself, in rust belt cities like Detroit; giving rise to policies that are wrong-headed and dangerous.

October 15, 2016 - London School of Economics and Political Science - American Politics and Policy Blog

Power Lines

Comparing Energy Costs in Cities Around the Country

Residents of Rust Belt cities might pay less for housing, but they pay a lot more for energy.

October 14, 2016 - Redfin

Emergency Sign

The Telemedicine Revolution That Still Hasn't Come

Health care advice can often be given through video or teleconferencing, which saves a great deal of time and money, but most patients still aren't eager to do it.

October 13, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

Self-Driving Bus

The Self-Driving Bus of the Near-Term, Realistic Future

It might be fun to imagine a a world filled with self-driving cars, reducing traffic and improving safety with one silver bullet. The more realistic short-term scenario, however, deploys low-speed, self-driving buses on private campuses.

October 13, 2016 - Inverse

Green

Building Industry Falling Short of the AIA's Carbon Reduction Goals

The American Institute of Architects gave a reality check regarding its ambitious and aggressive carbon reductions targets.

October 12, 2016 - Architect

Brooklyn

Fact Check: What's Really Going on in 'Inner Cities'?

One of the few mentions of cities during the second presidential debate came when Donald Trump described the states of "inner cities" in the country. The explanation didn't sit well with some experts.

October 12, 2016 - The New York Times

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.