Exclusives

Woman Computer

FEATURE

Four Steps to Enhanced Crowdsourcing

The second "Empowered Design, By 'the Crowd'" article offers insight into making the most out of new crowdsourcing resources.

May 2 - Kendra L. Smith and Lindsey Collins

Identical Trucks

BLOG POST

When Will the Trucking Industry Electrify?

Tesla's success with the Model 3 begs the question: When will the trucking industry electrify?

April 26 - Casey Brazeal

Polling Place

BLOG POST

Primaries vs. Caucuses from a Planner's Perspective

In the middle of presidential primary season, the debate about the caucus vs. primary processes is hot with criticisms being leveled on both sides. What can planners learn about this debate to help improve community engagement for planning?

April 20 - Dave Biggs

Shuttle Launch

BLOG POST

Inside the Planetizen Redesign

Planetizen Managing Editor James Brasuell describes some of the recent changes to the Planetizen site.

April 20 - James Brasuell

golf course homes

BLOG POST

The Resource Cost of Where We Live

Environmental impact isn't just a measure of what people buy, where we live affects the environment more than what we own or choose to drive.

April 18 - Casey Brazeal


Brownstones

BLOG POST

The Neighborhood Veto and the 'Missing Middle'

Community resistance may explain why smaller apartment buildings are hard to build.

April 15 - Michael Lewyn

APA 2016 award

BLOG POST

Community Engagement Highlights from APA 2016

As I do every year at the APA National Conference, I did my best to catch as many community engagement sessions as possible. Here are highlights, takeaways, and the common threads I noticed this year.

April 14 - Dave Biggs


Intersection

BLOG POST

Bruce Rauner's Highway to a Shrinking Chicago

How a proposed expansion of Chicago's I-55 could further disperse Chicago's population.

April 13 - Casey Brazeal

Library

BLOG POST

The Best Reasons to Go to Grad School in Planning

As the 2016 admission season winds down, thoughts turn to the 2017 application process. For students considering the idea, there are several good reasons to attend graduate school in 2017, and a few that may cause problems later.

April 13 - Ann Forsyth

beach Parking

FEATURE

Better Parking, Better Cities

Reformed parking regulations will improve the quality of urban environments. They might even allow to once again construct building types we appreciate only in older cities, but could never imagine building with today’s parking requirements.

April 12 - Gerhard Mayer

Empty Subway

BLOG POST

Public Transportation Ridership: Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back?

Recent data showing declining transit ridership is only the latest news to cast doubt on expectations of a public transit renaissance.

April 12 - Steven Polzin

APA Conference

BLOG POST

Trends from the APA 2016 Conference

The American Planning Association 2016 National Conference included a wide variety of topics and a significant amount of tweeting. This blog shares the highlights from the conference.

April 10 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Bethlehem

FEATURE

Book Review: From Steel to Slots

Chloe E. Taft explores the transition of Bethlehem, Pa., from Rust Belt company town to gambling mecca.

April 7 - Josh Stephens

Public Garden (don't reuse)

FEATURE

Let's Talk About Civic Crowdfunding and Government Responsibility

A reply to skeptics about the democratic power and potential of civic crowdfunding platforms.

April 4 - Katie Lorah

New York Housing

BLOG POST

A Utopian Solution to NIMBYism and High Housing Costs

The housing shortages caused by restrictive zoning are easy to solve in principle—even if the solutions are politically impossible.

April 4 - Michael Lewyn

APA Conference

BLOG POST

Scraping Social Media to Analyze Public Engagement

Planners are increasingly using social media for public engagement. How can you analyze what people are saying? NodeXL is an easy to use free tool for scraping and analyzing social media. I use this tool to report from the APA National Conference.

April 4 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Community Meeting

BLOG POST

Is Face to Face Community Engagement Dying Out?

With disruptions at public meetings on the rise and a growing number of online engagement tools to choose from, is face to face community engagement destined to die out? What's at stake if we let that happen?

March 28 - Dave Biggs

Google Self-Driving Car

FEATURE

No Business as Usual in an Autonomous Vehicle Future

Among the reasons to reconsider new investments in expanded roadway capacity: the impending revolution in transportation that will arrive when cars start driving themselves.

March 28 - William Riggs

Housing Construction

BLOG POST

Evaluating Affordable Housing Development Strategies

There are many ways that communities can support and encourage affordable housing development. Let's compare them.

March 23 - Todd Litman

Sprawl

BLOG POST

Sprawl and the Declining City

Sprawl lowers real estate values in cheap, declining cities—but it may also have social costs that aren't as relevant elsewhere.

March 20 - Michael Lewyn

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.

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

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