United States

NYC's SoHo Gets a 'Noxious' Use

SoHo, a Manhattan neighborhood full of luxury apartments and a median income of $111,000/year, must accept a new facility that includes a garage for sanitation trucks. Why, and how will it test the city's commitment to infrastructure design?

January 14, 2016 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Using Twitter to Better Understand Public Sentiment

By using the data provided by millions of Twitter users, two researchers discovered surprising insights into public sentiment in shrinking cities.

January 14, 2016 - At Lincoln House

Michigan Governor Finds Himself at Center of Flint Water Crisis

A case is made that Gov. Rick Snyder's handling of the lead-tainted water in Flint, Michigan is analogous to former President George W. Bush's bungling of the crisis resulting after Hurricane Katrina touched-down on the Gulf coast in August 2005.

January 14, 2016 - MSNBC

Study: BRT Lines Offer Significant Real Estate and Jobs Benefits

The real estate market has been transformed in cites that added bus rapid transit in the past decade, according to a new study presented this week at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting.

January 14, 2016 - Streetsblog USA

Suburban traffic

Study Finds Strong Evidence that Parking Causes Driving

A new study presented at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting builds a strong case that parking causes driving.

January 13, 2016 - CityLab

Motorcycle No Helmet

The High Cost of 'Motorcycle Freedom'

Michigan's mandatory motorcycle helmet law was repealed in April 2012. It only took a week for Dr. Carlos Rodriguez to notice an increase in patients not wearing a motorcycle helmet in his trauma unit in Grand Rapids, so he launched a study.

January 12, 2016 - Huffpost Healthy Living

night time image of active downtown pasadena

What's So Urban About the Suburbs?

A new book makes the case for suburban urbanity.

January 12, 2016 - CityLab

Study: Cities Gaining Post-Recession Economic Clout

As the dust settles from the Great Recession—evidence is growing to support the growing relevance of urban areas in the overall economic picture of the United States.

January 12, 2016 - City Observatory

An Era of Innovation for Park Design

Next City surveys the most ambitious examples of park design from a year of ambitious projects.

January 11, 2016 - Next City

Wise Use Movement Galvanizes Oregon Wildlife Refuge Occupation

In an news analysis for The New York Times Sunday Review, Alan Feuer sees the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon as another struggle between the Wise Use movement, which began is the 1980s, and the mainstream.

January 11, 2016 - The New York Times

Wheelchair Ramp

Finding Homes Harder For Those With Disabilities

A new study finds that the number of units available to those with a disability is insufficient to meet the growing needs of an aging population.

January 11, 2016 - CityLab

aerial view of identical suburban homes

A Brief Explainer of the Urban vs Suburban Migration Inflow/Outflow Argument

Has the renaissance of our urban cores petered out or will the movement of suburban refugees to denser metro neighborhoods continue? Let's see what demographics and economics tell us.

January 11, 2016 - Medium

fisheye photo of DC subway in station

How Do We Solve the High Cost of Building Transit?

Compared to other countries, building mass transit in the United States has proven significantly more expensive. But why? And how do we fix this?

January 10, 2016 - Greater Greater Washington

Federal Funding Authorized for States to Test Gas Tax Alternatives

The five-year transportation reauthorization known as the FAST Act relies on $70 billion of one-time, non-user fees to fund the $302 billion bill. The act also allows the government to fund the development of sustainable funding options by states.

January 10, 2016 - The Hill

Gentrification and 'The Slums of Beverly Hills'

There is hidden economic diversity even in one of the most famous (and toniest) of zip codes.

January 10, 2016 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Even Homer Nods: Responding to Paul Krugman on Housing

New York Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman, usually an astute observer, must have been having an off day when he made a completely incorrect assessment in his column on gentrification in New York City.

January 9, 2016 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

New Federal Rule Decriminalizes Walking to School

The recently approved federal education law includes a provision that allows students to take alternative forms of transportation to and from school with parental permission.

January 9, 2016 - New York Post

Study: Motivations for Active Transportation Vary by Income Levels

The motivations to walk or bike vary greatly by income levels, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Washington. The wealthy, as it turns out, are the outliers.

January 8, 2016 - University of Washington

Anchorage Officials Seek State Lands to Ease Housing Crunch

Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has asked Alaska Governor Bill Walker to transfer more than 24 parcels of state land for high density housing.

January 8, 2016 - Alaska Dispatch News

Congress Increases Allotment for the Land and Water Conservation Fund

The funding allotment for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) included in the Omnibus spending bill marked a substantial increase over previous years.

January 8, 2016 - APA Policy News

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.