United States
Budget Crisis Taking Toll on City Services
State and municipal governments across the United States are facing an unprecedented financial crisis, prompting many of them to cut back drastically on public services in order to reduce costs.
Score One For Livability
Senator Dodd's Livable Communities Act passed a milestone on August 3 by passing the Banking Committee on a party line vote: 12-10. Known as a "smart growth planning" bill, it would integrate transportation with housing and economic planning.
214% More Farmers Markets
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture says that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of farmers markets in the United States, with a 214% increase since 2000.
Is There Enough Room For Everyone On America's Roads?
Tom Madigan asks: "is it still possible to promote new bicycling and walking options in harmony with vehicular traffic? Or as city space gets more limited, will planners have to take sides?"
Removing a Racial Slur From Place Names in Oregon
The word "squaw" is considered a racial slur by Native Americans. In 2001, women from the Warm Springs Tribe convinced Oregon lawmakers to take the word out of state place names, but little has happened so far.
Resale Value No Longer the Key Factor in Homebuying
Alison Arieff asks, "At what point did the house become more about the future tenant than the current resident?"
Friday Funny: Elder Speaks of Bygone Suburban Ways
A family elder tells tales of the old ways when the family was "not enticed by the frappucinos at the Starbucks that just opened," and there were park-and-rides as far as the eye could see.
Inception Portrays Architecture As Fantasy
With the exception of Charles Bronson’s architect-turned-vigilante in Death Wish, "to be an architect in a Hollywood film is to inform the audience of certain characteristics: sensitivity, vulnerability and an innate romanticism."
Gas Tax for Highways Only?
The gas tax is being spread too thin on a broad range of transportation projects, according to the Reason Foundation. They say the gas-tax should be directed towards its original recipient: highways.
Urban Lifestyle Preference On The Rise
Using the 15-year-old transformation of Rockville, MD's mall-centered downtown to a mixed-use town square as an example, the real estate industry sees the suburban-to-urban lifestyle change spreading across much of the country.
Can Bikes and Transit Lead to U.N. Control of our Cities?
Colorado gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes thinks so. He's telling voters that Mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver's sustainability initiatives aren't as harmless as you'd think. "That's exactly the attitude they want you to have," says Maes.
Bikes and Peds A Threat to the Car?
National Journal asks its panel of transportation experts whether the car is really threatened by the rise in policy focus on pedestrians and cyclists.
LaHood Repeats Vow: No New Fuel Taxes & No VMT Fee
While acknowledging that the 18.4 cent gas tax is insufficient to meet today's and tomorrow's transportation needs, LaHood said that increasing fuel taxes now would jeopardize the economic recovery.
McMansions Go Section 8
The bust of the housing market has put a fleet of atypically nice homes into the Section 8 subsidized housing pool.
Fuzzy Connection Between Transportation Policy and Obesity?
Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is paying close attention to the link between transportation options and obesity in America. Next American City's Willy Staley looks at whether this attention will fight the epidemic.
Gadget Census Shows Technology Prefs Differ By Region
A website for technology shoppers conducted a census of sorts and uncovered that different regions prefer different technologies. For example, New Yorkers love iPads but in Massachusetts they prefer Kindles.
How Hollywood Denigrates Characters Who Don't Drive
Tom Vanderbilt explains adroitly "how not having a car became Hollywood shorthand for loser." Why does the film industry have such contempt for the carless?
The Mall: Not Dead Yet
Retail Traffic Magazine reports that the indoor mall, long declared dead, has weathered the storm of the recession better than expected -- and better than many retail concepts imagined as the next big thing.
Towns Across The Country Let Their Paved Roads Return To Nature
"When counties had lots of money, they paved a lot of the roads and tried to make life easier for the people who lived out here," said Stutsman County Highway Superintendent Mike Zimmerman, "Now, it's catching up to them."
Liveability Loses Out
The House of Representatives voted on the 2011 appropriations bill for Transportation and Housing and Urban Development yesterday, stripping $200 million from liveability initiatives that the Obama administration wanted.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
