United States

Nightlife in Tel Aviv

(*Updated) Study Finds Fewer Young Adults Moving into Cities than Moving Away

An article on the Metro Trends Blog finds that data do not support the common narrative that young people are moving to cities in huge numbers. Most cities, according to the study, lost more adults aged 20-35 than they gained between 2000 and 2012.

April 13, 2014 - Metro Trends

How Curbside Carriers Changed America's Mind About Buses

Intercity bus travel is no longer the exclusive domain of the down-and-out. The likes of BoltBus and Megabus have, over the past few years, brought a new level of service to the open roads.

April 13, 2014 - InTransition Magazine

My First Ride

How Well Does Light Rail Attract New Transit Riders?

The answer to the question in the headline is “not very.” Thirty years into the initial experiment, however, light rail has not been the game changer it was hoped to be.

April 13, 2014 - Atlantic Cities

Which Cities Have the Most Energy Star Buildings?

More and more energy efficient buildings are coming online, but buildings are still a major source of energy use around the world. To track green building, the EPA recently ranked the cities with the most Energy Star buildings.

April 12, 2014 - United States Environmental Protection Agency

Saving Endangered Modern Homes

The trend toward bigger houses makes the efficient and cool styles of modernism look inadequate to many Americans. A new article by the Architectural Record studies the difficult work of preservation efforts all over the country.

April 11, 2014 - Architectural Record

How Do Neighborhoods Become Wealthy?

A new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland examines a “troubling consistency” of neighborhoods—that is that over the past 30 years, the poorest neighborhoods have stayed that way.

April 11, 2014 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Mapping the U.S. Mexico Border Fence

Journalists at the Center for Investigative Reporting undertook the herculean task of mapping the extent of the secretive and sometimes strange fence between the United States and Mexico.

April 11, 2014 - Center for Investigative Reporting

Explained: the Ever-Increasing Transit Fare

Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles—all major cities that have mulled transit fare increases in recent months. Eric Jaffe examines the numbers behind the continuous need for transit agencies to raise the price of a fare.

April 10, 2014 - Atlantic Cities

New Book Proposes Safety Measures for Fracking

Written by Wall Street Journal energy reporter Russell Gold, the new book offers three recommendations that should be acceptable to all parties, from fracking's strongest supporters to its most ardent opponents.

April 10, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

Development Fails the Public Opinion Polls

A recent article for PlannersWeb called “10 Things You Should Know About How the Public Feels About Development” provides helpful data and insight into the type of opposition encountered whenever new development projects face public scrutiny.

April 9, 2014 - PlannersWeb

My Kid, the Wikipedia Entry

If you want to be profiled in Wikipedia, it is better to be born in an urban place.

April 9, 2014 - Better! Cities & Towns

Crowd

Watch the U.S. Population Grow Over Time

Movoto turned U.S. population density maps into an animated gif to show how the population has expanded over time.

April 9, 2014 - Movoto Blog

More on the High Cost of Infrastructure

A recent editorial in Atlantic Cities laments the regulations and policies that have, according to the author, driven up the costs of infrastructure investments in the United States.

April 8, 2014 - Atlantic Cities

Warhol Billboard

Coming to a Billboard Near You: The 'Art Everywhere' Project

Voting for a new project called "Art Everywhere" is currently open to the public on works from five of the country’s largest and most respected museums. The vote will help decide which images get placed on some 50,000 billboards this summer.

April 8, 2014 - Chicago Tribune

The Numbers Behind the Country’s Decreasing Traffic Fatalities

Susannah Locke examines some of the data behind the United State’s steady decrease in auto fatalities since a peak in 1969, when 55,043 people died while driving.

April 7, 2014 - Vox

walkable street

Realtors Discover Demand for Walkable Places

After generations of sales focused on conventional suburbia, realtors are discovering the demand for walkable, urban places.

April 7, 2014 - Better! Cities & Towns

Advocates and Opponents Struggle Over Toll Roads

While tolling will not fill the Highway Trust Fund gap, it can finance improvements for specific interstate highways that would otherwise be funded by a sustainable trust fund, not one approaching insolvency. Why not allow states the option to toll?

April 7, 2014 - The New York Times - U.S.

State Gas Taxes and P3s Fill Federal Transportation Revenue Void

Beginning last year, states increased gas taxes and entered public-private partnerships, as are some cities. But it's not an easy haul for cities nor states, and Congress has yet to agree how to furnish sufficient revenue to match current spending.

April 7, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal - U.S.

Brooklyn Brownstones

Housing is the Key to Family-Friendly Cities

Why housing should take priority in the effort to attract families back to the city (and welcome them to stay awhile).

April 7, 2014 - Bradley Calvert

Santa Monica

Developing the First Well-Being Index for Cities

Santa Monica, California is working to become the first city to develop a first well-being index for its residents. The index will help the city’s government measure and serve citizen happiness.

April 6, 2014 - Fast Co.Exist

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.