Exclusives

BLOG POST

Being Productive On The Bus

In a recent blog post (at http://www.planetizen.com/node/44518) Steven Polzin argues that drivers are more productive because they get places faster. His post, in turn, generated an avalanche of critiques noting the negative externalities of auto travel (e.g. pollution, death and injury from traffic accidents, health costs of obesity, etc.). But what I'd like to address is something else: the positive productivity benefits of transit use. Let's suppose that it takes me 30 minutes to reach destination X on the bus, and 15 minutes by car. Obviously, the car is more productive. Right?

June 5 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

The Cost of Slow Travel

One of the most widely cited numbers in contemporary transportation media coverage and policy discussions is the cost of congestion estimates that Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) annually produces as part of the Urban Mobility Report series. The 2009 version of that report (<a href="http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/)">http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/)</a> shows an estimate of the cost of congestion of $87.4 Billion for the top 439 U.S.

June 4 - Steven Polzin

BLOG POST

The Search for Community One Sleepover at a Time?

I have to admit, listening to Peter Lovenheim talk about his book “In the Neighborhood, The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time”, spiked my planner’s radar. In his novel, the journalist, quite intentionally, well, the title is self-explanatory isn’t it? It sounded a bit hokey and contrived at first, as did the interview. Lovenheim explained that the only way to truly get to know someone and develop a real sense of intimacy and bond was to sleep in their home and shadow them for the day. But the real story is about the loss of intimacy and comfort among neighbors.

June 3 - Melissa Hege

FEATURE

Federal Fortresses: How Much Building Security is Too Much?

Maureen McAvey, Executive Vice President with the Urban Land Institute, spoke recently to a congressional committee on the growing problem of federal buildings that are designed with myopic attention to security and ignore urban growth strategies.

June 3 - Maureen McAvey

BLOG POST

The Gulf Disaster and Planning

In a <a href="/node/44089">recent Planetizen post</a> I argued that the unfolding oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico may be perhaps our last warning to move more aggressively on renewable energy and a less energy-dependent built environment. What follows is an effort to outline additional implications for planning, to gain an understanding of the scale of this emergency and how it may impact planning in the months and years to come. Ecologically, economically and socially this is going to be like nothing we’ve ever seen before.

June 2 - Michael Dudley

BLOG POST

Finding Information about Planning: What Do Faculty Do?

Planning students are often told to find good information. How to do that is becoming both simpler, due to various search engines and databases, and more complex, given the amount of information available.

May 31 - Ann Forsyth

BLOG POST

Sustainable Transport and Livable Community Planning

My career is based, to a large degree, on my master’s thesis, which was a comprehensive evaluation of the full costs of various forms of transport. This provides a framework for determining optimal pricing, calculating the benefits of mode shifting and <a href="http://www.vtpi.org/tdm">demand management</a> strategies, and for comprehensive analysis of policy and planning decisions.

May 31 - Todd Litman

BLOG POST

Johannesburg's Auto-Orientation and the Persecution of the Pedestrian Majority

You really need to almost get hit by a car to feel like a true Johannesburg pedestrian. That's the way it goes here. A huge, sprawling greater metropolitan area of about 10 million people covering more than 600 square miles, the city is built for the car. And if you're not in one, good luck.

May 31 - Nate Berg

FEATURE

Parks, Playgrounds and Physical Activity

May 27 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

Planning Papers and Reports: Some Tips for Students

For most planning programs in the U.S. this is the end of the semester. Having read literally hundreds of papers over the past few months I have reflected on the lessons of better papers for writing in planning.

May 25 - Ann Forsyth

BLOG POST

You Still Have to Fight in Planners’ Paradise—You Just Fight for Better Stuff

Scandinavian countries are often praised for the forward-looking planning practices associated with social democracy. Urban planning there includes lots of enviable features, but a tour of a high-profile project outside Oslo, Norway was a reminder that even an urbanist’s paradise includes political fights, squabbles among interests, and embarrassing delays familiar anywhere else. Progressive politics encourage progressive plans, but the process and pitfalls remain the same.

May 24 - Greg Smithsimon

FEATURE

Tear Down the Corviale! New Urbanism Comes to Rome

Nikos Salingaros presents the case for demolishing a modernist eyesore in Rome and replacing it with a high-density, mixed-use New Urbanist neighborhood.

May 24 - Nikos Salingaros

BLOG POST

Data Rules the Day: Live from CNU

I'm at the 18th Congress for the New Urbanism, always a stimulating affair and this year is no exception. We're in Atlanta, Georgia, although I've unfortunately not seen much of the city beyond a few leafy, upscale blocks past the anonymous section of downtown. Right now, I'm waiting for a session on "The Great American Grid" to begin, undoubtedly a topic of some interest to our readers considering the comments inspired by Fanis Grammenos' <a href="/node/41290">dismissal of America's grid worship</a>.

May 21 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

GreenTRIP Sustainable Transport Building Certification Program

There are various ways to define building sustainability. A narrow perspective assumes that sustainable development simply means that buildings minimize energy consumption and climate change emissions, but a broader perspective recognizes that sustainability requires consideration of additional economic, social and other environmental impacts, such as lifecycle affordability, social equity, community integration, public health and safety, and land use impacts.

May 20 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

Livable Cities and Political Choices

People need to stop thinking about cities as bundles of technical problems that the planners must solve for them and to start thinking about the different ways that they would live in different types of cities, says Charles Siegel.

May 20 - Charles Siegel

FEATURE

Turning Downtown into Suburbia – The Case of Hartford, Connecticut

When we think of sprawl, we usually picture suburban life. But inner cities also took on the character of sprawl when freeways came in and were buildings torn down, say Christopher T. McCahill and Norman Garrick.

May 17 - Norman Garrick

BLOG POST

I Am Not a Monkey, and Other Lessons From Planning School

Tomorrow morning, I'll don a long black robe, a funny-looking hat and an atrocious brown hood to cap off an adventuresome journey through planning school. Almost two years ago, <a href="/node/34730">I decided to leave a healthy career</a> in journalism to enter a field that, by contrast, might still have careers a decade from now. It's been 21 months of angst, overwork, undersleep, and hours-long battles with American FactFinder. And it's been completely, totally worth it. Here are a few of the best lessons learned from two hard-fought years of planning education.

May 16 - Jeffrey Barg

BLOG POST

Sustainable Communities…What’s Missing?

As planners, we try to live the urban lifestyle, minimize our carbon footprint, and even grow our own vegetables. I once saw a colleague wearing a button which read “Riding transit is sexy.” Lose the car, bike or walk to work. Hey, if you’re adventurous, you can even take the bus. But this is easier said than done. I’ve lived in New Haven, Boston, Philadelphia, and now Miami. And as every year passes, I find it more and more challenging to cling to my planning ideals.

May 10 - Melissa Hege

FEATURE

The Infrastructural Benefit of South Africa's World Cup

Next month's World Cup in South Africa will bring a lot of attention to the country, and a lot of opportunity. Though many hope the country will see an economic benefit, the biggest impact is likely to be the creation of urban infrastructure.

May 10 - Nate Berg

FEATURE

Iron Man 2 and the Future of Energy

The plot of the summer blockbuster Iron Man 2 revolves around a fictional 1974 Expo, with the slogan "Better Living Through Technology." Managing Editor Tim Halbur says the film reflects the misplaced faith in technology and innovation that still drives Americans optimism.

May 9 - Tim Halbur