United States

Millennial Crowd

Are Millennials Hiding in their Parents' Basements?

Recent studies have found that trends born of the Great Recession have left Millennials stuck in place. A recent article places the current milieu in context by comparing historic rates of mobility.

May 19, 2014 - Bloomberg View

7 Reasons Community Development Financial Institutions Lack Investors

Community development financial institutions are great places for impact investors to put their dollars, but the money isn't flowing. Rosalie Sheehy Cates discusses the barriers in connecting CDFIs and impact investors, and a way forward for both.

May 19, 2014 - Shelterforce Magazine

Why School Integration Requires Neighborhood Integration

Emily Badger examines the role of housing segregation in obstructing the promise of Brown v. Board of Education.

May 19, 2014 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Transportation Reauthorization Bill Breezes Past First Committee

Receiving a resounding vote of confidence from the Environment and Public Works Committee, the $265 billion, six-year MAP-21 reauthorization bill advanced on its path to keep federal transportation payments going to states through the summer.

May 19, 2014 - The Hill

A bride and groom riding on citi bikes in New York

The Case Against Bike Helmets

Should helmets be an optional accessory, rather than an absolute requirement? Or are helmets a sign of a culture not yet ready to embrace biking as a normal, safe activity?

May 19, 2014 - Vox

Albuquerque

New Urbanism's Impact on Mid-Sized and Smaller Cities

Birmingham, Michigan; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Providence, Rhode Island; and others that adopted a new urban approach 15 or 20 years ago have transformed themselves.

May 18, 2014 - Better! Cities & Towns

Park(ing) Day

Questioning the Privileges of Tactical Urbanism

Does tactical urbanism too-often benefit the point of view of a privileged population, leaving behind more pressing needs?

May 16, 2014 - The University of Chicago Urban Network

Calling for National Investments in Transportation Infrastructure

President Obama visited the Tappan Zee Bridge earlier this week to argue for a renewed commitment to transportation infrastructure.

May 16, 2014 - WhiteHouse.gov

A Tale of Two Markets

Re-examining recent thinking on student debt as major contributor to the lousy housing market.

May 16, 2014 - CityLab

Irving Street

Do Old Buildings Contribute to Economic Vitality?

Emily Badger crunches the data on the argument by Jane Jacobs regarding the importance of old buildings to the economic health and quality of life of cities—an opinion described by Badger as "received wisdom among planners and urban theorists."

May 15, 2014 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Public Comment Sought for U.S. EPA's 'RE-Powering America's Land' Action Plan

The U.S. EPA is in the process of updating its 2008 plan to promote renewable energy on formerly contaminated land, mines, or landfill sites.

May 15, 2014 - U.S. EPA

Study Examines Middle Class Home Affordability

Jed Kolko presents the findings of a study that examines the available stock of housing available to those earning the median income around the country in different cities around the country.

May 15, 2014 - Trulia Trends Blog

What's Wrong with the Senate's MAP-21 Reauthorization Bill?

Plenty, according to Tanya Snyder, Streetsblog USA editor, who finds Obama's Grow America plan far superior. Outside of not including a gas tax to fill the Trust Fund gap, she finds the proposal "underfunded and highway centric." She is not alone.

May 15, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

You Can't Just Throw Money at Community Development

Living Cities set out to lend money to community development financial institutions in five distressed cities but were met with a mountain of challenges. Here are the lessons learned from addressing the lack of "capital absorption capacity."

May 14, 2014 - Shelterforce Magazine

Bike Commuter

U.S. Census: Bikes Most Increased Commute Mode Since 2000

Many U.S. cities are seeing an increase in bicycle commuters, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released last week. Of all commute modes, biking increased the most from 2000 to 2012. Walking, however, held steady.

May 14, 2014 - U.S. Census Bureau

Freeway Interchange

Senate Committee Releases Six-Year Transportation Reauthorization Bill

The bill to reauthorize the current surface transportation law, "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century", a.k.a. MAP-21, was released on Monday and will be "marked up" on Thursday. Spending is kept at current levels of $50 billion a year.

May 13, 2014 - Bloomberg News

Waterways Infrastructure Bill: Prelude to Highway Bill Agreement?

Last Thursday, House and Senate leaders announced agreement on an $8.2 billion waterways infrastructure bill, and if they have their way, it won't be their last major agreement. On Monday, a successor highway bill (to MAP-21) will be released.

May 13, 2014 - The Hill

Bi-Partisan Energy Efficiency Bill Stalls while Obama Pushes Initiative

A bi-partisan Senate bill to dramatically reduce carbon emissions by increasing energy efficiency got caught-up in Keystone XL pipeline politics, while President Barak Obama pursued his own energy efficiency agenda at a Walmart in Mtn. View, Calif.

May 12, 2014 - NPR

China High Speed Rail

China Considering High Speed Rail Project—to the United States

Reports from Beijing are that Chinese officials are considering a high speed rail project that would connect China to North America. The project sounds like science fiction—but the question remains whether China would or could pull off the project.

May 11, 2014 - China Daily

A Transportation Redline that Obama is Required to Keep

If Congress can't agree how to fund the Highway Trust Fund shortfall, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx warned state DOTs that he will be unable to reimburse them for funds already spent. The redline is the $4 billion mark projected to come July.

May 11, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal - Politics and Policy

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.

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.