Exclusives

BLOG POST

<p> As gas prices keep rising, the public demand for buses and trains keeps growing. Yet in some cities, government is actually cutting back transit service, because rising gas prices make transit vehicles more expensive to operate.(1) But as a matter of substantive policy, service reductions are not only less desirable than service increases, but also less desirable than fare increases. As a bus rider, I’d rather pay $1.50 and know that my service is safe from fiscal crises than pay $1 and worry that my service might be reduced or canceled next month. Moreover, if fairness means spreading pain equally throughout the population, it is fairer to have everyone pay a little more than to have some neighborhoods be left without service. </p>

August 6 - Michael Lewyn

FEATURE

Wes Marshall and Norman Garrick illustrate the problem with parking plans today, and how to fix them.

August 4 - Wes Marshall and Norman Garrick

BLOG POST

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td class="content" valign="top" bgcolor="#f1f1f1"><span style="font-family: Arial"> <div> <span style="font-family: Arial"><span style="font-family: Arial"> <div> <p> <span style="font-size: x-small">For over a year now, calls have multiplied to give the surface transportation program a new sense of direction. With near unanimity, the transportation community, along with most congressional lawmakers and state and local officials, have concluded that the current program has lost its focus and lacks a clear mission and a guiding purpose. A bipartisan consensus has developed that perpetuating the status quo is not the answer.

August 3 - Kenneth Orski

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> Visual communication is becoming more sophisticated in planning, however many online image sources are restricted and require payment for use. Others, such as flikr.com and Google Images are extremely useful but have uneven quality and information provided about the images can be difficult to assess. While flckr.com and Google Images will remain a key resource, a number of other online image databases provide more consistent metadata along with free access. </p>

July 31 - Ann Forsyth

BLOG POST

<p> <span> <!--[endif]--></span><span>As a grassroots North American organization for “people involved in planning,” <a href="http://www.plannersnetwork.org/">Planners Network</a> (PN) attracts not just professionals and academics but laypersons and activists as well. This year’s PN conference was a dramatic debut for the <a href="http://www.pnmb.org/">Winnipeg chapter of PN</a>, which was only formed in January of 2006. The conference title, “Flat not Boring” was an amusing reference to southern Manitoba’s notoriously unvarying geography.

July 28 - Michael Dudley

FEATURE

Planetizen talks with journalist and syndicated columnist Neal Peirce about the trends he's seen over the course of his career and the future of America's metropolitan regions.

July 28 - Planetizen

BLOG POST

<p>The McKinsey Global Institute has just published a major report outlining four potential scenarios for urbanization in China.</p><p>The main thrust of the report is that China needs to focus less on growing its cities and more on making them efficient and productive. Given the massive levels of capital investment Chinese cities have seen over the last 20 years, it makes sense that the country&#39;s urban planners need to find ways to squeeze more capacity out of these systems. After all, as McKinsey projects, another 350 million people will need to be accommodated, some 250 million of them as rootless rural migrants.</p>

July 24 - Anthony Townsend

FEATURE

Josh Stephens reviews James Howard Kunstler's novel of post-peak oil existence, <i>World Made By Hand.</i>

July 24 - Josh Stephens

BLOG POST

<p> This morning, one of my listservs was aflutter with discussion of a new article by Joel Kotkin, attacking an alleged &quot;war against the suburbs.&quot; According to Kotkin, this &quot;war&quot; consisted of Jerry Brown’s efforts to &quot;compel residents to move to city centers.&quot; After reading Kotkin’s article, I couldn’t really figure out exactly what Brown was trying to do- and since I don’t live in California, it really isn’t that important to me. </p> <p> However, it is important to realize that &quot;smart growth&quot; need not be the enemy of suburbs. Here’s why: </p>

July 22 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

<p> In response to the <a href="http://www.canadascities.ca/newdealforcities.htm">political movement for a &quot;new deal&quot; for Canada&#39;s cities</a>, successive Federal governments have instituted a Gas Tax Fund to provide Canadian municipalities with a supposedly stable means to finance their infrastructure needs. The 2008 Federal Budget extended the fund to beyond 2013-14<a href="http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/ip-pi/gas-essence_tax/index_e.shtml"> to become a permanent measure</a>. Agreements were drawn up between each of the provinces and Ottawa to set specific amounts, based on per capita need and other principles.

July 22 - Michael Dudley

FEATURE

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.

July 21 - Nate Berg

FEATURE

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.

July 21 - Robert Steuteville

BLOG POST

<p> In early 2008, the <a href="http://www.micd.org">Mayors&#39; Institute on City Design</a> received a generous gift from the <a href="http://www.micd.org/news/micd_tat_pr.htm">Edward W. Rose III Family Fund</a>, directed through the <a href="http://www.nea.gov">National Endowment for the Arts</a>, to support technical assistance teams going into the communities of alumni mayors who have already attended one of our traditional Mayors&#39; Institute sessions. The four cities that we selected for the pilot phase of this work were Santa Rosa, CA, Lincoln, NE, Cincinnati, OH, and Tulsa, OK. </p>

July 18 - Jess Zimbabwe

BLOG POST

It&#39;s a unique time to be joining the staff of Planetizen as managing editor. The world seems to be awakening for the first time to all of the issues we deal with everyday, whether we work in urban and regional planning, environmental preservation, architecture and placemaking, landscape architecture or transportation. Suddenly, everyone understands that these niches are, in fact, interconnected, and that &quot;place&quot; as a general concept affects everything we do. Unfortunately, it took $4.85 gasoline and a mortgage crisis that is sinking our economy, but at least people are thinking! <br />

July 17 - Tim Halbur

FEATURE

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-3) is doing more than responding to Gov. Glendening's recent op-ed on Planetizen calling for more and better options -- he's also introducing legislation to do just that.

July 16 - Congressman Earl Blumenauer

BLOG POST

Not until this month did a bus pass ever make its way into my wallet.

July 15 - Josh Stephens

BLOG POST

City cycling can be hectic. Let&#39;s be realistic: most American cities are not meant for cyclists. It would be great if they were, but for now, our city forms are primarily designed for the movement of cars. Because cities are made for cars, it&#39;s understandable that car drivers tend to disregard the fact that somebody might be riding a bike out there. (<a href="/interchange" target="_blank" title="Planetizen Interchange">Interchange</a> blogger <a href="/user/405" target="_blank" title="Planetizen Interchange blogger Mike Lydon">Mike Lydon</a> recently wrote an <a href="/node/33877" target="_blank" title="The Bicycle Network - by Mike Lydon - Planetizen Interchange">excellent piece about planning for bicycle networks</a>.) Until our urban forms and public policies encourage the use of roads by a variety of transportation types, the burden is on cyclists to assert their role in the transit jungle. Communication is key to achieving this goal. Safe cycling (and safe transportation in general) relies heavily on communication. Safe cyclists speak bike language -- a rudimentary system made up of three main components: the wave, the yell and the nod. <br />

July 14 - Nate Berg

FEATURE

There is a glaring lack of attention in the presidential primaries to urban policy, says Randall Crane.

July 14 - Randall Crane

BLOG POST

<div class="mp_drop"> Last year Project on Public Spaces and I published the <strong><em><a href="http://www.pps.org/info/products/Books_Videos/great_neighborhood_book">Great Neighborhood Book,</a></em></strong> which offers hundreds of ideas from around the world about making community improvements on issues ranging from crime prevention to environmental restoration. Since then almost everyone I meet asks: What&#39;s your favorite neighborhood? </div> <p> I should have an answer ready. But each time the question arises, my mind starts wandering through the great places I&#39;ve explored through the years. Is it the Plateau neighborhood in Montreal, where I became infatuated with cities years ago as a college student? Maybe

July 11 - Jay Walljasper

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">North American (United States and Canada) policy generally favors low energy prices, with low taxes, production subsidies and other types of energy industry support. As a result, North Americans are energy rich: an average worker can purchase more fuel per hour of labor than almost any other time or place. In response North Americans have developed energy intensive lifestyles and industrial practices, have failed to implement many energy conservation practices common in other parts of the world, and consume more energy per capita than most other times and places.</span> </p>

July 11 - Todd Litman