United States
Could Keystone XL Become the Next Casualty of Falling Oil Prices?
Recently we noted that Chevron had dropped their Arctic lease due to falling oil prices. With falling gasoline prices, Americans may no longer see the Keystone XL pipeline as urgent. In addition, President Obama appears likely to oppose the project.
Mapping America's Toy Manufacturing
All those toys under the Christmas tree came from somewhere.
Google Searches Reveal Christmas Lists for 24 U.S. Cities
The New York Times Upshot and Google team up to reveal the top three most-searched holiday gift items for U.S. cities, revealing local and regional trends.
Santa Claus for Digital Natives
The death of suburban malls at the hands of online shopping is well documented. It turns out Santa also has a cyber proxy rendering the old way of doing things obsolete.
Florida High Speed Rail to Remain Privately Funded
Apparently some in Florida were uncomfortable with the much touted "privately funded railroad" using a $1.6 billion Federal Railroad Administration loan, so All Aboard Florida applied for tax exempt bonds to supplement or replace the loan.
Renters Are Not the Problem
A few weeks ago, Alan Mallach asked the question, "do urban neighborhoods need homeowners?" Tony Roshan Samara challenges his answer.

Big Cities Make Pedestrian Safety a Priority
New data released Dec. 19 by NHTSA shows increased safety for those traveling by car, but pedestrian fatalities are 15% higher than in 2009. Plans by San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago to increase ped safety are described by the WSJ.
A Gentrification Timeline—50 Years in the Making
Next City is running a special feature that provides a timeline of events of significance to society's concept of gentrification.

Trends in Master Planned Communities
Urban Land magazine gathered a panel of developers from around the country to discuss current trends in master planned communities—they all agree that consumers want communities in line with the ideas of new urbanism.
How Google Maps Gets the 'Ground Truth' for Street View
A peak under the hood at "Ground Truth"—the operation behind Google Street View.
Transportation Think Tank Recommends Ending Highway Trust Fund
The non-partisan Eno Center for Transportation has had it with futile attempts to raise the federal gas tax and the never-ending transfers (bailouts?) from the federal general fund to keep roads and transit funded. "Pay as you go" no longer works.
Do Good Techies Make Good Neighbors?
Who wouldn’t want the many benefits that a thriving digital workforce can bring? Growing wages, agile thinking, and jeans and ping pong in the office! Oh, but wait...

The Top Bike Lane Projects of 2014
Bike lanes are hot right now in cities all over the country. As more and more cities build more and more miles of bike infrastructure, which projects are exemplary?
Study: Youth Learn Reckless Driving Habits at the Movies
Researchers in the Behavioral Science Institute at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands produced evidence that movies like Fast and the Furious influence the driving of young people.
Arctic Lovers Can Thank Falling Oil Prices for this Gift
The high cost of drilling for oil in the Arctic, combined with the lowest oil prices in five years, have caused Chevron Corp. to drop their test well drilling program in Canada's Beaufort Sea.
On the Importance of Bike Parking to Bike Commute Adoption
A blogger writes that bike advocates should think outside the bike lane to bike parking facilities—only when the costs of biking are externalized will a critical mass adopt biking.
Boomers Drive Home Sales; Millennials Still on the Sidelines
Bloomberg produced an article describing what it sees as the dominant narrative of the for-sale housing market as the country slowly emerges from the recession and adjusts to its new demographic realities.
America's Growing Transit Love Affair
A trend piece by CNN examines Americans' increasing embrace of transit. Although the subject matter is familiar to Planetizen readers, the article also reveals insights into mainstream perceptions of the contemporary mobility discussion.

The Most Popular Planetizen Posts of 2014
We've been collecting data on the posts you made the most popular for the year 2014.
Study: Trip Generation Manual Produces 'Phantom Trips'
Research suggests that the Trip Generation Manual—a familiar tool for planners calculating the vehicle trips expected to be generated by developments of various sizes and uses—produces "phantom trips" and unneeded automobile infrastructure.
Pagination
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.
planning NEXT
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie