United States

The Top 15 Most Stressful Cities

Forbes Magazine picks 15 of the most stressful cities in the United States. To come up with the data, "we analyzed quality-of-life data from the 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas," says Beth Greenfield.

October 14, 2011 - Forbes

Richard Florida Examines Walkscore's Top Ten Cities

Richard Florida digests Walkscore's Walkability rankings, and discusses some surprising results. Among the top ten are Union City, New Jersey, and Miami, Florida.

October 13, 2011 - The Atlantic

Best Cities For Working Mothers

In the third year Forbes has compiled the list, the new data factors included in this year's survey bumped New York City off the list and moved Buffalo into the top spot out of 50 metropolitan areas.

October 13, 2011 - Forbes

Healthy Travel Modes: Correlations, Causality and Caution

Driving makes people fatter and less healthy, right? Fanis Grammenos warns planners and urban designers that the answer is not so simple, and misusing the statistics will weaken effective debate.

October 13, 2011 - Fanis Grammenos

Richard Florida on the Importance of Place

Richard Florida, interviewed by blogger Dave Copeland, says that quality of place is going to be of growing importance in the coming era to keep cities vibrant and attracting talent and the "creative class."

October 12, 2011 - MyCityWay Blog

Streetcars On The Rise Once Again

The Obama Administration has decided to provide federal funding for a variety streetcar projects. Over the past few months, cities including San Antonio have proposed routes that will run through densely populated areas.

October 11, 2011 - the transport politic

More Hybrid Cars Available, But Fewer People are Buying Them

2009 may have been the peak year for hybrid vehicle sales as a percentage of total sales, despite the addition of 23 models available to consumers, reports CNNMoney. The current price of fuel does not justify the premium price paid for these models.

October 11, 2011 - CNNMoney

Partisanship Stalls Infrastructure Investment, Says Blumenauer

Congressional support for transportation and infrastructure projects has traditionally been bipartisan. In an interview, Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon discusses how political tantrums in Congress may handicap the US in the long run.

October 10, 2011 - The Planning Report

Sprawl is Holding the Recovery Back

A new report from Strong Towns Initiative argues that sprawl-friendly policies and overbuilt infrastructure are keeping the economy from properly recovering.

October 9, 2011 - New Urban Network

Dwindling Dollars for Dam Safety

New requirements have made safety officials more aware of the safety issues surrounding the U.S.'s 84,000 dams. Problem is, there are fewer funds available to fix the mounting problems they find.

October 9, 2011 - Renewable Energy World

Steve Jobs' Legacy and the Return of Civic Beauty

Planners, architects, and developers made America ugly in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, opines Ross Douthat. In this piece, he questions whether or not the aesthetic revival led by Steve Jobs could be applied to our buildings and spaces.

October 9, 2011 - The New York Times

New Climate Change Guidelines Will Impact Bay Area Development

Recognizing the inevitability of sea level rise and vulnerability of much of the Bay Area, the region has adopted the first climate adaptation rules in the nation. Building along the shores of S.F. Bay remains possible.

October 8, 2011 - The Bay Citizen

Outrageous Skate Park Planned for Under Manhattan Bridge

Architecture for Humanity has asked 9 design firms to dream up an upgrade for Coleman Oval Skate Park, which is located directly underneath the Manhattan Bridge.

October 8, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

Architecture and Development Best Practiced Together

An interview with architect and developer Marcel Wisznia on why architects should develop their own projects.

October 7, 2011 - AIA

California and the Northeast Corridor are Key to High-Speed Rail's Success

Anthony Flint of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy says the way to save high-speed rail policy is to focus on getting the two trains with the best chance of success on track.

October 7, 2011 - The Infrastructurist

What Would Happen If All Public Transportation Stopped?

The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) released its 2011 Urban Mobility Report, which shows how many additional hours in traffic each commuter would be subject to if public transportation were discontinued.

October 7, 2011 - Urbanophile

A Place for "Potentially Offensive Place Names"

What's in a name? Apparently, reports Kim Severson, some not-so-subtle reminders of a segregated American landscape. And changing them is not easy."The United States Board on Geographic Names, the federal agency that maintains the official names of m

October 7, 2011 - The New York Times

Is The Creative Class Fading?

Scott Timburg labels Richard Florida overly optimistic and blames the media for not portraying the 'fading creative class,' because their recession pain has not been sufficiently dramatic.

October 6, 2011 - The Atlantic

Will Extreme Engineering Save The Planet From Climate Change?

More precisely, will "geoengineering" or "climate remediation" be able to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the earth's atmosphere? A new panel of climate experts will investigate.

October 6, 2011 - The New York Times - Environment

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.