United States

Wendell Cox Blames Planners for Housing Crisis

Smart Growth opponent Wendell Cox clamors that land use regulations imposed by Smart Growth exacerbate the ongoing housing woes.

June 20, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal

Dwindling Sprawl: The End is Near for Suburbia

As mobile technology is fast becoming more mainstream, Urban Land Institute's CEO Patrick Phillips envisages more mixed-use developments in the next decade.

June 20, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal

Discrimination Dressed Up As Discriminating Taste

In this post from Reason, Tim Cavanaugh joins the debate over preservation holding back the city, and argues that land use regulations have a wholesale negative impact on the city.

June 20, 2011 - Reason

U.S. Cities in the Twitterverse

Milwacky? Hustletown? These are just a couple of the most popular nicknames that Twitterati use when referring to their hometowns, as culled by Inbox Q, a company that harvests info from Twitter for private companies.

June 19, 2011 - Mashable

Making Room for Public Transit

A report authored by Transportation for America and the American Public Transportation Association suggests that, no less than Social Security and Medicare, retiring baby boomers will have to cope with limited mobility options.

June 18, 2011 - The Antiplanner

Bill Proposes Privatization of Northeast Rail Corridor

House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica has proposed a bill to privatize Northeast Corridor rail operations. This post from Pedestrian Observations looks at what such a plan would mean.

June 18, 2011 - Pedestrian Observations

Cities Try New Approaches to Fund Streetcars

As federal transportation funding grows increasingly uncertain, cities across the country are trying new approaches to generate funds for their planned streetcar projects.

June 17, 2011 - Urban Land

Urban Development Shifts Reduce Driving

The patterns of urban development over the past few decades have pushed more and more people into cars by necessity. But as design priorities change, so are people's walking and driving habits.

June 17, 2011 - Sierra

Does Climate Change Transcend Partisan Politics?

A Yale University survey yielded a surprising result: climate change policy is becoming less polarizing among Americans of different political affiliations.

June 17, 2011 - D.C. Streesblog

USGBC Sued Over LEED Certification

Henry Gifford, an energy-efficient building expert in NYC, challenges the LEED certification standards in an acrimonious lawsuit against the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

June 16, 2011 - Miller-McCune

The Ponzi Scheme that Created the Suburbs

Charles Marohn explains how cities and towns failed to consider the future expense of expanded infrastructure to new suburban developments.

June 16, 2011 - New Urban Network

Why is it Taking So Long to Replace the Tappan Zee?

The Tappan Zee Bridge, which crosses the Hudson, is falling apart at the seams. So why is it taking so long to repair?

June 16, 2011 - City Journal

The Truth About Energy Efficiency

The truth is, it works: a new report shows that energy efficiency standards placed on utilities result in less demand and greater savings.

June 16, 2011 - Grist

National Trust Picks Most Endangered Places for 2011

The National Trust for Historic Preservation releases a list each year highlighting their Top 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. This year's list includes buttes, hospitals, forts, alleys and John Coltrane's home in Dix Hills, New York.

June 15, 2011 - National Trust For Historic Preservation

Breaking out of the Single-Family Home "Box"

An editorial from John McManus at Big Builder Online says that the downturn in the economy is pushing developers to break out of the single-family housing box and experiment with mixed-use.

June 15, 2011 - Big Builder Online

The "Trivial Profession" of Urban Planning

In the new book of essays Reconsidering Jane Jacobs, Thomas J. Campanella says that noteworthy to practicing planners in 2011 is the final essay by Thomas J. Campanella wonders if urban planning is at risk of becoming trivial.

June 15, 2011 - South Bend Examiner

Realizing Fast-Forward Urbanism

Top-down and bottom-up planning are brushed aside in favor of the concept of a middle ground approach in the new book "Fast-Forward Urbanism: Rethinking Architecture's Engagement with the City". It could work, according to this review.

June 14, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

Misinterpreting Metrics in List of 'Dying' Cities

In this post on The Infrastructurist, Peter Kageyama looks at a recent listing of 10 "dying" cities, and how the metrics used to rate these places can be and have been misinterpreted.

June 14, 2011 - Infrastructurist

FTA Emphasizes the Importance of Upkeep on Transit Systems

As city budgets get slashed, repairing and maintaining transit systems can fall down the list of necessary expenditures. The FTA this morning announced assistance programs for "good repair."

June 13, 2011 - Streetsblog

The Importance of Corners

Chuck Wolfe focuses on the role of the urban corner, terming it "the central place of urban life".

June 13, 2011 - The Huffington Post

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.