United States
Red Light Cameras: Cash Cow Or Traffic Safety Tool?
The passage by the PA state senate of a bill allowing Pittsburgh and other cities to use red light traffic enforcement cameras has drawn a strong warning and a study from Penn Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) to only use them for safety purposes
Transportation Enhancements Battle Brewing in D.C.
In fact, that's putting it positively, as the battle may already have been lost according to House Transportation Chair John Mica. Enhancements, most of which fund pedestrian and bicyle projects, may become voluntary rather than a requirement.
Trader Joe's Expands Its Floor Space
The Trader Joe's grocery chain, which has long cultivated a funky neighborhood vibe, is going national and opening bigger stores. Will communities still love a big box TJs?
Struggling Centers Revitalized With New Tenants
With the increasing popularity of online shopping, many shopping centers are losing retailers left and right. More unusual tenants are filling in the gaps, like gun ranges and bounce houses.
Critics Argue Against Public Participation
Public participation is an important part of the urban planning process, says Michael Hooper, as "it improves project outcomes and the likelihood of project success." But lately, some prominent people are saying that it hinders the planning process.
The Top 100 Public Spaces in the U.S. and Canada
The results of our crowdsourcing project, in collaboration with the Project for Public Spaces, reveal not an objective Top 100 but instead a handful of communities passionate about their own local public spaces.
Stadiums Get Sustainable
Many sport agencies are realizing the benefits of going green. John McHale Jr., executive vice president at M.L.B. said “just because you can’t do everything doesn’t mean you can’t do something.” Many others are doing their part to help as well.
Facebook Building Server Farm in Sweden for Passive Cooling
Internet server farms suck up enormous amounts of energy keeping all those mainframes cool. So Facebook has announced it will build in Northern Sweden and use only the natural air to chill their facility.
Seniors Equate Mobility with Life
"Carjacked" author Anne Lutz Fernandez says Time's tearful coverage of the traffic deaths of a 72-year-married Iowa couple fails to recognize the true problem: that Americans are persuaded that driving = living.
Bane of the Middle Class: Rising Gas Prices
In this Washington Post blog, Brad Plumer writes on a New American Foundation report on rising gas prices and their disproportionate impact on the poor and middle class. Public policies intended to reduce fuel consumption, however, benefit the rich.
Subway Vent Benches Kill Two Birds With One Stone
Hurricane Irene brought flooding to the M and R subway lines in Queens, prompting the MTA to seek innovative ways to prevent it from happening again. Rogers Marvel Architects developed an innovative solution that also creates a bench above.
Despair and Hope in Occupied Rust Belt Cities
As part of an "Occupy America" tour, Arun Gupta visits Occupy protests in three rust belt cities, and finds that the economic forces that unleashed the global recession long ago stripped these cities of their economic and social fabric.
How to Build a Better Park
New Urbanist Peter Katz presents his guidelines for creating a popular urban park. First published in 1995, Katz's ideas still hold up.
The Growing Food Truck Industrial Complex
The food truck phenomenon is here to stay and stimulating tangential industries that include truck outfitters, permit expediters, lawyers lobbyists, website designers, and marketing professionals.
Homelessness and the Occupy Wall Street Movement
The logistics involved in maintaining the Occupy Wall Street protests turn out to be some of the very activities that homeless people have been banned from doing in most cities for years.
Diesel Cars and Trucks Will Flood U.S. Market in 2014
Eric Loveday of AutoBlogGreen explains why we'll be seeing a lot more diesels in the U.S.: increased federal emission standards will only be met by increasing the number of diesel cars on the market.
Touring the Suburban Environment
Jason Griffiths and Alex Gino set out in 2002 to document the unremarkable character of the American suburbs. 22,382 miles and 2,593 photographs later, they concluded that suburbia "is difficult to define."
No Excuses For Not Charging For Parking
Transportation consultant Jeff Tumlin admits that it's no easy job to convince people (let alone political leaders) that it's in their best interest, and that of their community, that parking should not be free. New technology may be the ticket.
Increasingly, Infrastructure Offloaded to Private Sector
Unable to pay for transportation infrastructure and unlikely to get help at the federal level, cities and states are looking to private entities to build and invest in their infrastructure projects.
The Second Coming of Marked-Down Detroit
The 2010 Census reveals that Detroit's population is approaching the 1910's level. Of the City's 714,000 residents, 83% are black and nearly 40% live in poverty. With virtually every statistic going against its favor, can Motown make a comeback?
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association
