United States
Starbucks Closing Hundreds of Stores
After seemingly endless expansion, Starbucks begins closing some 600 stores, prompting a "save Starbucks" campaign.
Friday Funny: Developers Bad at Naming Streets
Developers often see naming streets as their way of making a mark, naming streets after daughters, alma maters, or the family dog. But they often find themselves tangled up in regulations and the limits of their own creativity.
Friday Funny: 'Guide Ferret' Banned From Bus
OC Transpo (Ottawa's transit authority) says that Frances Woodard can no longer bring her pet ferret on transit.
Time for a National Water Policy in the U.S.
Former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega laments the incredibly disjointed and ad hoc approach to freshwater management in the United States.
NPR's Talk of the Nation Highlights Amtrak Long Distance Travel
Former travel editor Catherine Watson is interviewed on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" about her Amtrak trip on three long-distance trains from Minnesota to New Mexico that illustrate the difference between travel and transportation.
SF's New Federal Building is Green and Safe, But Is It Good?
Witold Rybczynski visits Thom Mayne's new Federal Building in downtown San Francisco. He finds a number of energy conservation innovations at play, but concludes that precious little else is playful or human about the architecture.
America's Dying Middle Class
Rolling Stone pundit Matt Taibbi writes that the media are missing the real story: that millions of Americans are financially drowning under home heating costs, gas prices and debt, and the middle class is disappearing.
Highway Funding: The Last Bastion of Socialism in America
Since 1956, federal, state and local governments have invested nine times more capital funding in highway subsidies than in transit.
Small Town Apocalyptic Values
Josh Stephens reviews James Howard Kunstler's novel of post-peak oil existence, World Made By Hand.
Google Maps Adds Walking Directions
Google announces walking directions feature for Google Maps.
'Suburban Refugees' Could Mean Trouble For Cities
The economic decline of the suburbs could flood cities like New York with "suburban economic refugees". This commentary from the New York Post warns that this is bad news for cities.
Stadium Development Could Hurt More Than Help
New data on stadium development show that economic benefits fall way short of public investment.
Renewal of Cities Derailed by Mortgage Crisis
Decades of hard-won community revitalization work in America's cities is being undone by the mortgage crisis, and the Federal government is at odds over how to stop the decline.
Black Flight or White Gentrification?
The Wall Street Journal reports that middle-class African-Americans are leaving America's major cities in droves, leaving remaining African-American cultural and religious institutions struggling to adjust to this new demographic reality.
The L.A. River, Navigability, and the Future of Watershed Development
Planetizen's Assistant Editor Nate Berg investigates the impact of recent court decisions on the Los Angeles River, and how it may affect development on the watersheds of rivers and waterways across the country.
Not Your Father's Suburbs
Next American City reflects on the changing face of suburbia.
Transit Agencies Struggle with the 'Double-Edged Sword' of High Gas Prices
Rising gas prices aren't just encouraging more transit use, they are making public transit more expensive, and charging more for tickets and passes hurt low-income riders the most.
New Federal Rule on Public Transit Leaves School Kids at the Curb
A new Federal regulation will deny funding to public transit services for routes oriented to meeting the needs of public schools, with the aim of encouraging school boards to contract with private bus operators instead.
Debunking Connections Between Urbanism and Alienation
In response to a recent essay about an apparent relationship between urbanism and social alienation, Robert Steuteville argues that the study in question -- and its press -- twists the facts.
Millennium Park Garden Takes Top Award from ASLA
The American Society of Landscape Architects has awarded the Lurie Garden in Chicago's Millennium Park with it's highest honor.
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
