United States
Geek Mercenaries Hack for Local Governments
Non-profit group works to improve efficiency of local governments with technology hacks.
Will Economists Be the New Highway Men?
Got road congestion? Pricing in the form of managed (don't call them HOT) lanes makes more sense than new construction, according to a panel of transportation experts led by HNTB Corp., reports James Bruckbauer of Michigan Land Use Institute.
US Homelessness is Way Down; So Why Isn't Anyone Talking About It?
Despite a deep recession driven by a housing bust, the National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that homelessness dropped by 17 percent from 2005 to 2012. This is astonishing news, right? So why aren't politicians trumpeting this decline?
Hot Housing Market Shows Signs of Cooling
Commenting on a recent drop in new-home sales, mortgage applications, and slowing home price increases, Goldman Sachs analysts are reporting that America's housing market has hit “a pothole.”
Invasion of the Renters Disturbs Homeowners
An improving housing market driven by investors has continued to drive down America's homeownership rate. In many neighborhoods, this means that renters now occupy a substantial amount of homes, distressing owner-occupiers.
Lessons from West: Do Texas Land Use Laws Put Residents at Risk?
After a fertilizer plant explosion killed 15 people in West, observers blamed Texas's lax zoning regulations. Analysis of the locations of such plants across the Western U.S. seeks to determine whether Texas land use law is uniquely unregulated.
Building Material Industries Lead LEED Backlash
The USGBC's LEED rating system certainly has its share of warts. But in states across the U.S., the timber, plastics and chemical industries are challenging LEED requirements for insidious reasons: to protect the market for their products.
How to Speak Libertarians' Language for Planning
Many planning policies, like zoning rules and parking minimums, undermine traditional "Main Street"-style development and, in fact, make the Strong Towns ethos more palatable to Libertarians.
How Homeownership Has Kept Black Americans from Realizing MLK's Dreams
Fifty years ago today, participants in the March on Washington were seeking to narrow the economic gap between America's blacks and whites. After five decades, that gulf remains. Vauhini Vara explains how homeownership is partly to blame.
Should Cities Mandate Yards?
In communities across the U.S., setback requirements and lot coverage maximums mandate acres of private open spaces. Eliminating such requirements could produce more affordable and more eco-friendly places, argues Matthew Yglesias.
Economists Agree: The Olympics are a Terrible Investment
As a group from Washington, D.C. announced plans to bid for the 2024 Olympics, economists released a report on the high costs of hosting the Games for cities, including expensive infrastructure and small economic benefits.
Why Millennials Might Save the Suburbs
Observers have anxiously wondered what will happen to America's urban revival as Millennials start families and seek the types of amenities more readily found in the suburbs. Relax, says Shane Phillips, cities will be fine and suburbs will be better.
The World's 10 Best Connected Cities
A new report out this week has ranked the Top 10 "Internet Cities" around the globe, based on a set of five criteria: connection speed, availability of citywide WiFi, openness to innovation, support of public data, and security/data privacy.
Is New Urbanism Best Suited to the Suburbs?
25 years after development started on Gaithersburg's model New Urbanist community Kentlands, Dan Malouff surveys the movement's impact on America's development patterns. He argues its products are more necessary in less-urban environments.
EPA Move to Monitor Roadway Air Pollution May Have Broad Planning Impacts
With evidence on the harmful health impacts of vehicle emissions increasing, the EPA will begin monitoring pollution levels adjacent to freeways in Los Angeles and more than 100 of America's biggest cities. Experts say the action is long overdue.
Lacking Funds for Repair, Texas Unpaves its Roads
Unable to find funding to repair roads damaged by the booming oil industry traffic, Texas will convert asphalt roads to gravel. Texas's gas tax is among the lowest in the nation.
Bike Lanes Boost Local Businesses
A study of Seattle's bike lanes and small businesses shows that bike lanes strengthen local business sales.
Janette Sadik-Khan Previews NACTO's Street Design Guide
Janette Sadik-Khan, NYC DOT Commissioner and president of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), discusses NACTO's mission and forthcoming Street Design Guide: a "permission slip" for cities to change their streets.
Are We Being Fooled Again By Census Bureau Misestimates?
The Census Bureau's questionable methodology for estimating municipal population growth has resulted in counter-intuitive and often outrageous numbers, warns Aaron M. Renn.
Slow Cyclists Race to Enjoy the Ride
Slow bicycling groups and events allow people to socialize, exercise, and never worry about being left behind, reports Jennifer Levitz.
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
