United States
New Tool Makes City Spending and Revenue Comparisons a Cinch
Want to know how your city's spending on schools, police, and public works compares to others? The Lincoln Institute has created a new interactive database that for the first time allows apples-to-apples comparisons of city finances.
Even the Good News Looks Bad in the Census Bureau's New Poverty Report
For the first time since the start of the Great Recession, America's median household incomes and poverty levels didn't worsen. However, stagnant incomes weigh heavily on the majority of Americans, while the top earners continue to do well.
Improving Mobility Requires a Multimodal Consideration of Congestion
As urban populations increase and drivers seek to escape crowded commutes, America's urban transit systems are becoming increasingly congested. For TDM professionals to improve mobility for all, they must first change how they conceive of congestion.
How Interstate Tolling Could Work
A new Reason Study advocates for the "third" revenue option (with gas tax and VMT fee being the first two) for fixing the soon-to-be insolvent Highway Trust Fund - interstate highway tolling, and allowing the states to pursue that option.
Walkable Streets Guide Gets Federal Endorsement
The Federal Highway Administration's recent support for the use of an ITE/CNU authored walkable urban thoroughfares guide as a companion to the widely used AASHTO "Green Book" gives local transportation engineers more tools to create livable streets.
Who Makes Better Parks, Planners or Landscape Architects?
Successful parks require good design in both the physical and the social realms. However according to Los Angeles County Planner Dr. Clement Lau, the former too often overshadows the latter.
Is Sprawl Dead or Just Hibernating?
If the small city of Otsego, located 30 miles from Minneapolis, is a guide, sprawl may be poised to make a comeback as the housing market roars back to life. But larger indicators point to a withdrawal from sprawl.
Where America Grows: Mapping the Country's Crops
Did you know that sweet potatoes are only produced in a small area of North Carolina? Or that flaxseed is only grown in the country's remote northern reaches? Crop maps published by the USDA paint an interesting picture of American agriculture.
It's Time to Revolutionize America's Water Infrastructure
America’s water infrastructure is behind the times. With over 240,000 water main breaks annually, and only 3.8% of wastewater being reused, the country’s water systems scored a D from the American Society of Civil Engineers on its 2013 report card.
Don't Go Quoting Those Urban Boomer Growth Figures Just Yet
Remember those recent articles in respected national news organizations that reported a million baby boomers had moved to America's 50 largest cities between 2000 and 2010? According to Wendell Cox, they had the story backwards.
End of the Line Looms for Short Amtrak Routes
In 19 states across America, "small-town mayors, state budget hawks and fans of passenger rail" are debating whether to subsidize passenger rail service or see it disappear thanks to a 2008 Congressional mandate. States have until Oct. 1 to pony up.
Density Is the New Fertility Bogeyman
Joel Kotkin's muddle-headed theory on babies and urban living is aimed at blocking housing choice for young families, argues Robert Steuteville.
Turning Infrastructure Into Amenity
As part of its ongoing series on "Reimagining Infrastructure", Orion Magazine features five projects that show how a new generation of infrastructure projects are creatively integrating form with function to create community amenities.
Dramatic U.S. Fertility Decline Appears to be Stabilizing
The U.S. fertility rate has declined 9% since the onset of the recession in 2007, with births declining every year. The decrease appears to have leveled off last year, a sign of an improved economy, though the change varied among age and race groups.
Land Rush Is On as Builders Try to Catch Up to Housing Demand
As the housing market roars back to life, the price of "dirt", or developable land, is surging in America's most desirable areas - including the outer suburbs. A shortage of lots is said to be hampering the housing recovery.
Where Do Recent Grads Have the Best Chance of Finding a Job?
New York and Los Angeles lead the U.S. with the most job openings in fields that require a college education. But these cities also have the largest pool of competitors. By applying a "location quotient", a different picture of opportunity emerges.
The Overlooked Beauty of the American Freeway
The constant criticism of America's freeways makes it difficult to appreciate this infrastructure as important economic and cultural artifacts and a wonderful way to see the country.
New Resident Attempts to Turn a Tiny Community Into a White Supremacist Colony
Paul Craig Cobb was welcomed to a small town in North Dakota when he arrived last year and bought 12 plots of land. Now, his neighbors are distressed since learning of his plans to turn Leith, ND into a white supremacist stronghold.
Does Obama's Keystone XL Decision Still Matter?
John Upton notes some startling changes among Gulf oil refineries - the ones that had been clamoring for the Keystone XL pipeline to be built in order to access Canada's oil sands. It's been two years - and the oil is flowing - with or without it.
Size of A City's Middle Class Predicts Poor's Economic Mobility
Researchers find that among the largest 100 metro regions in the U.S. , those with a larger middle class, provide higher economic mobility.
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.
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
planning NEXT
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
